The Colored Pencil Club: Early Learning
by Chiyo M. Matsuko
Summary: What do you get when you combine four not-so-ordinary high school students, a magical book, some elves, a disgruntled king, and a lot of flashing around? This COMPLETE story, part one of three!
1. I

**INTRO**  
You guys know who is and is not mine... although there are a few I wouldn't *mind* having as mine...  
  
  
Okay, folks! I've written something along the "friends get sucked into storybook" line before,  
(See: The Pizza Box Adventure) It's just some insane dream of mine to get sucked into a book, or something...  
Anyway, this was for the most part, written over the course of one night amidst swiss cheese crackers and a lot of   
White Lighten' Jolt (among other things) and has since been revised and repaired, for your viewing pleasure ^.^  
So, sit back, relax, read, and please R&R!!! Thanka!  
  
****THE COLORED PENCIL CLUB I: High School****  
  
It was 7:37 a.m. on a Tuesday morning. Risa Farenel stumbled her way blearily down the hall, dodging other students and various abandonded backpacks and athletic bags as she headed for locker 344.   
She was an average girl in all physical respects. Average height, average weight, average looks. She had long red hair that she wore in about a million teeny-tiny braids to almost her waist, freckles acrost her nose, and greyish green eyes that she felt were her best feature. Everything about her seemed to be somewhat rounded, except for her hands, feet, and ears. Her hands were small and thin, with long, gracefully tapered fingers, her feet were small and thin, too. As for her ears, well, they were both slightly pointed at the top, giving her the appearence of some magical creature from the myths of Ireland. Her Gramma always teased her about being half-elf, but Risa always just rolled her eyes. She was way to klutzy to have even a fraction of elf-blood, let alone be half elf! Actually, she looked more like a very tall pixie than anything else. But Gramma's stories had an effect on her none the less, and it was just the little push Risa's active imagination needed to open a whole little world where she spent most of her time dreaming away her teenage years.  
  
The first day back from a three-day weekend was almost always the worst kind, especially when paired with change of semester, new classes, and play practice to boot. It was January, and in the small town of Westingford, that meant snow, sleet, ice and mud... and lots of it. Westingford was not the most fantastic place to grow up and go to school; the most common cause of death before puberty was boredom (this was another reason Risa's imagination was so wild. It was a matter of survival). The town consisted of a small lake, a creek, a small park, three schools, a local garage, about eight churches, two car dealerships, a funeral home, three bars, five resturants, two hardware stores, three antique shops, a Dollar General, one grocery, a post office, and a couple craft and frame stores. That was it. Risa's mother owned one of the resteraunts, a little pizza and sub take-out place called Farenel's. Risa occasionally worked there after school when she needed money, but usually went down to Lake LeBison with her buddies, The Colored Pencil Club, or sat around at the gazebo in the park. Speaking of the CPC, it was not long before Risa spotted one of the members.   
  
Zoe Gingringer had been Risa's closest pal since they'd started at FLB as freshmen, it was they who had started the Colored Pencil Club in art class the semester before.   
Zoe's imagination was almost as wild as Risa's, and they spent many a day drifting down the creek in a rented canoe and living out their made-up adventures. Risa and Zoe had much in common. They were the same height, both sang alto, were rabid manga and anime fans, were somewhat talented in art, had the same scores on their PSAT's, and loved orange soda-pop best. But there were many differences, too. Where Risa was average in school work, Zoe excelled. Zoe was also very pretty, but would never admit it. She had crazily curly dark blonde hair, and big blue eyes that looked as if they had silvery snowflakes swirling in them. Her face was delicate, and her hands were long and thin like Risa's. And while Risa's clothing was anywhere from medieval skirts and hippie blouses to black leather pants and Hello Kitty, Zoe stuck mainly to blue jeans and baby tee's, and her all time favorite color: orange.  
  
Right now, Zoe stood at the locker she shared with Micah Hart, who wasn't there yet, a bright spot of tangerine and denim amongst the khaki and navy clad preppies in her midst. For some reason, the preppies just loved to congregate around the 340-350 locker block. It was a mystery why, but everyone was pretty sure it was because they were too stoned to make it the rest of the way down the hall to their own lockers.   
"GINGRINGER!" Risa shrieked, blurriness forgotten, and took a running leap to tackle her buddy, who turned, paled, and pressed herself against the open locker, anticipating the impact that inevitably came.   
"Dammit to shit to hell to baloney!" Zoe yelled, pushing Risa off of her and stuffing her coat disgrunteldly into the locker, slamming it shut. "Do you have to do that *every* single morning!"  
"Of course!" Risa quipped cheerfully as she crammed her coat into her nearly over-flowing locker. "One would think you'd be used to it by now, Gingringer!" Zoe gave her a nasty look, and they took off down the hallway away from the staring preppies, giggling.   
"I wish you could've made it to Wal*Mart on Saturday," Risa sighed pushing several of her tiny braids away from her face. "We had a blast, but it just wasn't the same."   
"Yeah, I know, but it just wasn't worth duking it out with Mom over."  
"Yeah, I guess so. But there's always Snowball!"  
"I am *not* going to that dance!" Zoe growled, glaring at her friend.  
"Why not?" Risa demanded. "It really is a good time! Wear jeans under your gown, I don't care! Just pleeeeease come with us? Pleeeeeease, Zoe-chan? Please?"  
  
"Yeah, Pleeeeeease?" Added a new voice, coming up behind them. "Cactus Flower!" Risa cried in a nauseatingly fake western accent. "Honey Lamb!" The tall, thin guy replied with the same accent, laughing. Risa linked her arm through his and pulled him up between her and Zoe. Micah Hart was the only guy they'd every really hung out with. Besides towering far above them height-wise, and weighing far less than them, Micah had a knack for the coolest clothes and *the* best colonge. Not a day went by when Risa didn't sniff him by way of greeting. Aside from being tall and thin, Micah had pretty hazel-green eyes and short, dark, wavy hair that he wore gelled and arranged "just so". He'd first come to Fort LeBison as a sophomore, and the fact that he was very, well, gay probably made it a little difficult for him to fit in at first. But before long, he made several new friends that included Zoe and Amitie, their acquaintance Julianna, and a girl named Gale whom none of them much knew except for Micah. The fact that girls generally were nuts about him helped a bit, too (wink). Through Zoe and Amitie, he'd met Risa, and from the first time they spoke, they'd acted like they'd known each other for years, much to the confusion of others. He was the third member of the club. Back to the subject at hand...  
"Still tryin' to get her to go?" Micah asked Risa, still laughing. "Yes! She won't budge towards it!" Risa complained, glaring best she could at Zoe across Micah's chest. "It's not like you wouldn't have a date!" She then grumbled, but the look on Zoe's face signalled that it was time to change the subject. "So, we know that we all have chemistry together first period, but what about after that?" she asked, pulling her folded schedule out of her jeans pocket. Zoe and Micah produced theirs, as well, and soon the trio was bent over their respective class schedules, discussing teachers and other class members and the like. A brief stop in the chemistry room, and they were all on their way, rejoicing that they all shared 3rd Lunch again. And soon after several laps of the halls and a stop at the soda machine for orangey-goodness, Risa began to get worried. One of their group had not yet arrived, and usually she was there by now. "Hey," Zoe started, again seeming to read her mind. "Has anyone seen--"  
  
"LOVERS!" A new voice bellowed down the hallway, causing several teachers and students to turn their heads or jump up, startled at the voice's sheer volume.  
"--Amitie?" Zoe finished flatly. "Darling!" Micah called happily, and Risa bust out laughing.  
Amitie Jamensen was the only senior in the group, and the only one old enough to legally see R-rated movies and vote. Her father co-owned one of the two hardware stores in town, her brothers were away at college, and her mother had died several years before, so Amitie was pretty much a loner. She lived a few blocks away from the school on East Avenue, in a huge victorian mansion which had been painted teal with orange and white trim (needless to say, it was Zoe's dream house). Amitie was a full-blown genius, yet school was low on her priority list. She'd been known to spend up to five hours painting her nails (which today sported tiny monkeys and bananas on palm trees), and her hair styles and colors changed almost as often as Risa's, but far more dramatically. At the moment, it was brown, with jet black ends, and had two rainbow streaks coming down on either side of her face. It was also very curly that morning. Her clothes were all together indescribable, but always, always fun to look at. She wasn't exactly an official member (she just didn't get the joke), but it was only a matter of days before she would be initiated.  
"Are you people def or something? I've been trying to get your attention for five minutes!" Amitie growled, meeting up with them. She and Zoe took the lead, and Risa and Micah fell behind them, arms linked once more. "Sorry, Amitie. We were just so distracted by your appearance, we couldn't hear you calling." Zoe joked. "Damn you, Gingringer!" Amitie threatened, shaking her fist in the blonde girl's direction.   
Risa opened her mouth to toss a comment, but just then the digital clocks turned to 7:53, and Amitie had to part ways with them to reach her class on time. Risa, Zoe and Micah headed for their chemistry class, and another long, tedious day of "fine education" began. 


	2. II

*****  
  
2:37, and the day was finally over... almost. Zoe ran through the halls, dodging the masses and hurtling gear adrift. She'd promised to meet the rest of the group in the library so that Amitie could get a book she needed for her new AP English class, and they could talk over the day's happenings. Risa, Micah and Amitie only had a little time before play practice at 3:00, and Zoe wanted maximum down time with her buds before she had to sumbit herself to yet another two hours of watching them singing in barns and dancing with cowboys.   
She was the last to arrive, as usual. The others were sitting around a back table, drumming their fingers and glaring at her expectantly. "Just shut up! Yes, I know. I'm late, like always. Now let's find this book and get out of here before we have to go celebrate the territory of Oklahoma!, shall we?" She asked in mock anger. It had been a very long day. Everyone was tried and crabby, and they all needed a break.   
Amitie was not thrilled about a novel assignment the first day of class, and Micah was sullen over facing an art class alone. Risa had two histories and a math to add to chemistry, and by this point, she was inconsolable.   
  
"Okay, so, what's this book we need to find?" Risa grumbled, sighing and standing. No one in the group knew the library like Risa, and it was rumored that she'd read every book they had to offer. Zoe didn't doubt it.  
"A foreign book. We have to read a novel written in a country other than the US." Amitie growled a bit too loudly, earning them a steely glare from the librarian, Ms. Primrose, whom everyone but Risa feared. Zoe and Amitie sniggered, but Risa was already off and amongst the shelves, obviously in one of her pirickly moods. The librarian stood and left the room with one last warning look. "Well, Jamensen, do you want comedy, mystery, horror, fantasy, non-fiction...?"  
"Why don't you give her one of the books you're always reading? Then maybe she can explain some stuff to us and we'll have a clue what you're always going on about. Vampires and emperors and elves and dragons and moppits and the like," Micah suggested teasingly, attempting to lift the dark clouds that hung about Risa. All intentions aside, it seemed as if lightening now crackled in the darkness she steeped in, because the look on Risa's face could've stopped even the most vicious of her imaginary creatures.  
"They are *hobbits*, not moppits." She said darkly, and Zoe let out her breath slowly when she dissapeared back around a shelf. "Ouch. What's Farenel's deal?" She whispered. Micah shrugged, and Amitie shook her head. "Who knows. She does have math class now, and we all know how Risa feels about math class." The latter suggested, also in a whisper.  
"True, but--"  
  
***CRASH!***  
  
Micah, Zoe and Amitie jumped. "What the bloody hell was that!?" Micah asked, and they all shook their heads. "Risa, are you alright?" Zoe called, suddenly on her feet and rushing around the corner of the shelf her friend had dissapeared behind. Risa was best known for two things: her imagination, and being a notorious klutz. No one was sure whether the two things were related or not, but for some reason, Risa became graceful when she was in dream-mode. This was obviously not one of those times.  
"Risa?" Amitie asked, following Zoe. Risa lay sprawled on the ground, one of the stools that were placed about the room for reaching high shelves on its side behind her. Several books were scattered on, around and under her, but her face has suddenly bright, her eyes wide and sparkling in that dangerous way which meant she was off in her own little world. In her ring-decked fingers she held a huge book that no one remembered seeing before. It looked anceint, bound in some sort of leather, trimmed with silver tooling and some bizarre runic text.  
  
"Hey, guys, look at this!" The tumbled redhead said breathily, as they knealt around her, Micah taking her arm and helping her up to a kneeling position. Zoe frowned at the book, but Risa's eyes remained big and shining as she lay it across her knees.  
"What the hell kind of writing is that!" Amitie all but shouted. Zoe continued frowning heavily, and Micah sent a doubtful glance up at Risa. "It's Common Elvish," The red-head explained, running her fingers over the cover, a strange expression entering her sparkly eyes. "It's some sort of book written entirely in Elvish! I've never seen it here before. It must be new."  
"New is not the word I'd use for it," Micah said, poking it with one finger and wrinkling his nose. "It looks decrepit!"  
"Can you read that stuff?" Zoe asked, her frown turning into a kind of grudging interest a she peered at the silver inscriptions. "Yeah, Gramma taught me before she died. Don't ask me how she knew, but she was such a Tolkien fan anyways."  
"You can read goddamn bizarre languages that no one's ever heard of, and yet you can't get your GPA above a 3.5? Goddamn you, Farenel!" Amitie exploded inceredulously, but Risa just shrugged. "Sorry, Amitie, but not everyone can have a 4.11!" She laughed, her foul mood gone as mysteriously as it had come. "Well, what does it say!" Micah asked after a few seconds of good-natured glaring between the two girls. Risa said a long string of something in some strange language quite matter-of-factly, and the others glanced at each other with raised brows and confused expressions.  
"And what the hell does that mean?" Zoe asked. Risa sighed with impatience. "It'a story book, from best I can tell. Some old fairytale from the elves of Middle Earth."  
"What did you say you ate for lunch?" Amitie asked, reaching a hand out and touching Risa's forehead, as if feeling for fever. Risa slapped her away, gathering the book in her arms and standing. "C'mon, we'll be late for practice."  
  
"Put that thing back, Risa," Zoe muttered grimly, scooping up the books that had fallen and stuffing them up on the empty shelf in no apparent order. "Why? I want to read it!" Her friend sulked, rearrangeing the said books properly with out even really thinking about it.  
"I still need a novel, folks!" Amitie cried from the floor, just as long-suffering and whiney as Risa. "Here, read The Hobbit and shut up about it," Risa said off-handedly, tossing a red hard-cover book over her shoulder, which hit Amitie in the head, who swore loudly. The others laughed, and Micah helped Amitie off the ground. "Was it written in the US?" she questioned, glaring and rubbing the bump that was forming on her head.  
"If it was, she wouldn't have given it to you. Now come on, let's go to the check-out." Micah said, making for the front counter. Risa started to follow him, but Zoe stuck her arm in front of her friend, grabbing the edge of the shelf with her hand and causing Risa to slam into it.  
  
"Put the book back, Risa," she said seriously, a rare thing indeed where Zoe was concerned.  
"What! Why the hell should I do that, Gingringer? It's a *book*, for the love of the Gods!" Risa cried, hugging it protectively to her chest.  
"Because the whole damn thing is a little too Fushigi Yuugi-esque for my taste! Wierd books written in strange languages falling from the sky! I don't like it, Farenel. Please put it back!"  
"It's just a book, Gingringer," Micah said. "Seriously, what's the worse that could happen?" Amitie chimed in, giving Zoe an odd look. But Risa paused and stared at her best friend for a few moments, and no words were said. Then the red-headed girl sighed and looked very sad. "I see what you mean, Zoe, but I can't put it back. I have to read this book. I-it has my Gramma's name on it, Zoe. I think she wrote it."  
"Your Gramma!" Micah exclaimed. Everyone had loved Risa's grandmother, affectionately dubbed "Gramma" by all who knew her. Risa had been completely devistated when she died, but refused to admit it to anyone. They had shared an unusual bond, and Zoe wasn't sure Risa'd ever get over the loss. Zoe frowned for a moment longer, then grabbed the book, looking over her shoulder and slipping it into her bookbag, zipping it up and putting it back on her shoulder. Risa watched her gravely, then smiled a bit.  
"Micah, Amitie, go check out that book. Meet us at the gazebo. Play practice can go without you guys for one day. We're gonna read this book!" She announced, grabbing Risa's arm and rushing from the library as Micah and Amitie made for the check-out desk.  
  
***  
  
Once outside, Risa grabbed her arm back from Zoe and attempted to pull her coat on against the bitter snowy wind that had started up, swirling with bits of ice and sleet. She also took Zoe's backpack and hugged it tight against her chest. "When did this blow up?" Zoe called over the storm, but her friend made no reply to her question. "Let's cut across the common!" Risa called back, her words all but lost on the wind. Zoe nodded, pulling the top of her coat shut with one hand, and grabbing Risa's shoulder with the other. After the first few initial steps into the knee-deep snow, Risa stopped and turned back again.  
"Hey, Zoe! There's a bit of an ice formed over this mess! If we walk really lightly, I'll bet we can just go right across on top, rather than wading through it!" She shouted.  
"More than likely!" Zoe shouted back, and together they stepped above the snow, walking as lightly as they could, and only sinking in a few inches. This was how they crossed the common (with the exception of a few falls and spills) and to the road, finally crossing the park in the same manner and huddling down in the meager protection provided by the gazebo.  
"Maybe this wasn't the best place to have a meeting!" Zoe chattered, and Risa agreed, nodding her head vigorously, still hugging the bookbag across her chest.   
"When the others get here, we can go to Gramma's old house. Mom and I haven't really moved in yet, so it'll be empty for sure!" Risa murmured. Soon Micah and Amitite showed up, the latter swearing loudly and profusely.   
"Goddamn fucking winters in this goddamn town, all this goddamn snow and all this fucking wind and goddamn sleet! SHIT!" She screeched, stomping her feet in an effort to remove the snow clinging to her electric blue fishnet stockings.  
"Are we going to stay here?" Micah asked, raising his voice over the wind. It had grown very dark in contrast to the blinding snow, and suddenly a flash of lightening split across the sky, followed by a crash of thunder.  
"EEEK!" Risa screamed, practically leaping into Micah's arms. Zoe went stiff and pale, blue eyes wide, and Amitie put her hands on her hips and glared at the roof of the gazebo for all she was worth.  
"This is one hell of a blizzard!" She bellowed, and then flicked the bird at the sky.  
"C'mon! Let's go!" Risa called, and the party started again into the snow, clinging to backpacks and shoulders and arms in an effort not to be seperated. By the time they reached their destination, they looked more like four walking, shivering snowmen than four teenagers.   
  
They waited on the wide front porch while Risa fumbled with the key, finally letting them in.  
"Leave your snowy stuff out here. If we water-mark the floors, Mom'll have a fit." Risa said, shedding her coat and sneakers and brushing the snow off of her jeans as best she could, and shaking out her hair.  
She then dissapeared into the gloom of the house, turning on lamps and lights as she went. The rest of the group stood somewhat nervously in the corridor, but eventually krept forward to follow Risa's progress towards the parlor. Gramma's house was a big, sky-blue cape cod with white shudders and gingerbread trim. In the spring and summer, huge flower gardens worthy of fairy tales surrounded the property, and in winter the snow clung to the trees like sugar frosting. Inside, the house was all polished hard-wood floors and crystal lamps. There were the occasional oriental carpets, and thousands of little statues, nick-nacks, old mirrors and paintings. Somewhere in the house the old westminster clock chimed three, sending it's eerie music through the house. Risa's black cat, Tiki-Bird, scampered out and laced around their ankles before going off in search of her mistress, and in their cages, Gramma's rescued birds squawked and twittered about. Zoe looked about with mild interest, even though they'd all been to the house many times.   
  
Once they'd shed their snowy, wet gear, they tip-toed into the parlor where Risa sat waiting, the book on the marble coffee table before her. They all knealt around her, cuddling into the blankets left folded on the sofa, and began to talk softly.   
"Didn't your grandma die in this house?" Micah asked, eyeing an owl statue with some discomfort. Risa shrugged. "Gramma's no haunting ghost. Don't worry about it. Tiki here would flip out if there were anything we ought to know about," she smiled, stroking her kitten's head affectionately.  
"Well, are we gonna read this thing or what?" Amitie demanded, ringing out her soaked hair into an empty candy dish nearby. Risa frowned at her. "Seriously. We didn't skip play practice for nothing," Micah added. "Micah, sweetie, with this kind of weather, I'm pretty sure practice was cancelled," Risa sighed, and then examined the book again.   
  
"Well, Gingringer, there's no warnings, no word of a curse, or a spell, or an enchantment of any kind. It's just a book."  
"What's it called again?" Amitie asked, leaning over to get a look, too.  
"Well, essentially, it's called the The Phrophecy of Celebêl. Celebêl was Gramma's name."  
"Thus your obsession with that battered ol' thing," Amitie muttered back. At that moment, the lights went out, and everyone screamed. "Maybe we should be nicer to that book!" Micah said in a trembly voice. "It's a book, Micah," Risa sighed, lighting a few candles that were laying about and two of the old oil lamps with their fancy painted shades. Sitting in the dim back room, it was little wonder why Risa had spent her life dreaming. The house was worthy of something from a horror novel.  
"I wonder what it was doing in the library?" Zoe wondered out loud, sitting up on her knees and waiting for Risa to come open it. Amitie let out an exasperated sigh and threw down the afgan she'd had wrapped about her. "That's it! I'm opening the damn thing!" She announced, reaching forward and grabbing the book.  
Risa ran back to the table. "What the hell!" She yelled angrily, obviously put out by her exclusion from what she felt to be her mystery. Amitie stood squarely, glowering down at the leather tome in her hands. She put her fingers under the front cover, and everyone took a deep breath as she lifted it. Zoe shut her eyes tight, and....  
  
Nothing happened. Everyone let out a deep breath, and Risa looked crushed. Zoe felt dissapointed, too. Maybe she had been hoping for something to happen, despite her fears.  
"We missed play practice for this?" Micah whined, glaring. Risa scowled and reached for the book, which Amitie was leafing through with interest. "Alright, give it back!" she pouted.  
"No! I'm looking at it! Don't be such a goddamn baby!" The older girl growled, and Risa's face darkened omniously. "Jamensen, give Farenel the book before she kills us all!" Zoe said quickly before anything too drastic could go down, also grabbing the book and attempting to pull it from the grasp of the other two. "Let go!" Amitie cried, giving it a pull. "If you rip it, I'll break your hands!" Risa announced darkly, letting go as if the book burnt hers. "You're the one who's going to rip it!   
"Give the book back to Risa! It has her grandma's name on it!"  
"Well, I want to look at the pictures!"  
"You can see them later!"  
"Both of you! Just put the stupid book down! I wish I'd never found it in the first place!" Risa wailed, her eyes filling with tears. "Meow! Cat fight!" Micah sighed, striding over to them. "Alright, ladies. Let's just put the book down before someone goes into convulsions!" He murmured, also taking the book. Amitie and Zoe refused to let go, staring each other down. "That's it!" Risa shouted through her tears, breaking in and groping for the book once more.  
  
A bright light suddenly burst from the book, as lightening flashed across the sky and white energy surged through the house. The friends were thrown down, and the book fell to the ground, its pages flipping wildly until they fell to apparently just the right page. More light streamed from the open tome, swirling out and twirling around each of the four in turn, and then pulling them sharply upright.   
"What the fuck!" Amitie bellowed, turning round and round in and effort to beat the light off of her. Zoe stood still, feeling as if she were going to faint. Micah looked pale and terrified, but Risa just looked slightly distant, her eyes somewhat glazed as she stared straight ahead.  
"Ohmigod," She murmured, and the four were sucked straight to the spot where the book lay, and then began falling. They were falling faster than the fastest rollercoaster, and Zoe could hear them all screaming as loud as they could, clinging to each other in fear. Risa and Zoe shared one shrill, toneless shriek of terror, and Micah yelled as loud as he could, but Amitie's cry was one long, endless "SSSSHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"  
Downward they sped, breaking through the white, endless barrier and into bright blue and fluffy clouds, passing it all in a blur as the green below rose up to meet them, and then crashing through a canopy of emerald leaves, taking down branches and limbs and setting birds to flying as they went, finally landing on the ground with a loud "OOMPH!"  
  
Zoe hesitantly opened her eyes, and looked about her. She lay sprawled across a moss-covered log, staring straight up at the broken patch in the forest through which they'd fallen as leaves twirled innocently down on them. Micah was next to her, his long legs across her stomache, moaning about his aching backside. Risa was collapsed inelegantly face down a few feet away, a crazy grin on her face. Amitie sat up to her left, rubbing her elbow and letting out a long string of choice words.  
They were all covered with leaves and twigs, and dirt-smudged, windblown and disheveled, but aside from a few bumps, bruises and minor scrapes and cuts, they seemed to be in one piece.  
"Where are we?" Zoe whispered, a small black fleck in the sky catching her attention, and she watched its progress downward.  
"Beats me," Micah muttered, crawling off of her and flopping back down on his back with a groan.  
Risa began to giggle insanely, and Zoe shot her a worried glance. "Whoa boy, Risa's lost it."  
"Goddamn fucking book," Amitie grumbled, examining her scraped knee and torn fishnets, and glaring at the scuff in her opalescent silver boots.   
  
Zoe turned her eye back to the clouds above just in time to realized what the falling speck was.  
"Amitie, look out!" She called, but too late, because just as the girl looked up from her stockings, the book landed with a dull "thud" on her head.  
"DAMMIT!" Amitie cried, clutching her skull and grimaceing in pain. "I told you to be nice to that book," Micah sighed.  
"Die a slow, painful death!" Amitie hissed, and Micah laughed quietly. But Risa had suddenly sat up, her eyes focused hazily on something approaching. "Umm, guys...." she whispered, motioning for them, but by then the tall figure had stopped and cast a long shadow over the four frightened faces upturned upon it.  
Risa's eyes grew wide, Micah went pale again, Zoe gasped and covered her mouth, and Amitie swore yet again. "Ohmigod," Risa murmured, and the forest seemed to stand still.   
  
***** 


	3. III

"Ohmigod," Risa said again, staring up at the figure. He was a tall, slender man, with long pale hair and fair skin, and deep brown eyes. He held a bow and arrow poised easily in his hands, ready to shoot, and stared at them quizzically. He let out a long rift of bizarre language, and Risa replied after a few moments, her words very shakey and childish-sounding in comparison to the guy's, who was not lowering his weapons. This went on for about five minutes, and Amitie's face began to get its familiar impatient look...  
"WHO THE FUCK *ARE* YOU!?" Amitie finally yelled, causing the tall man to falter back and drop his bow. Risa and Zoe slapped their foreheads with their hands in unison, and Micah groaned and hid his face. The tall man frowned at Amitie, who glared at him. He smiled suddenly.   
  
"You are Risa?" He asked the redhead girl, and she nodded mutely. He had a soft voice, with a familiar accent Zoe couldn't quite place. "Then you are Zoe," he said, touching the blonde's head with the tip of his arrow, which he had managed to hold onto. Zoe also nodded, and then the girls eyed each other nervously. Who was this guy? And how did he know their names? And where the hell *were* they?  
"I am Calendae. And you are Risa, granddaughter of--"  
"Yes, we've established the fact that my name *is* Risa. Now, *Calendae*, where are we?" The young girl said drily, getting awkwardly to her feet and then craning her neck to meet the man in the eye. He was very tall, and Risa had the strange feeling she'd seen him somewhere before...  
  
"Ohmigod!" She shrieked yet again, her face lighting like a thousand watt light bulb as her hands flew up to either side of her face. "You're an elf, aren't you!" She cried shrilly, and the tall man winced and nodded. "AGGGH! It's an elf! I'm talking to an elf! An ELF!" Risa screeched, spinning around and jumping up and down and giggling repeating more words along those lines over and over and over.  
Calendae leaned over to Zoe, his eyes never leaving the hysterical teenager for a second.  
"Is she like this often?" He whispered nervously.  
"Calendae, dude, don't ask questions you don't *really* want to know the answers to," Zoe answered, and the elf guy paled slightly. Micah and Amitie stood up and made their way over to the other two, and now the entire party stood in a semi-circle, more or less ignoring Risa, who was still babbling inane incoherent things and prancing about the small clearing.  
"So, Calendae, or whoever the fuck you are, where are we and how did we get here?" Amitie asked. Micah stared at the other male appreciatively, and the elf gave him and odd look back, suddenly seeming to be very uncomfortable. "Uh... Oh, um... y-you are in the Golden Wood, realm of the Lady of Lothlori--"  
"ENGLISH PLEASE!" Amitie bellowed, and it seemed as though Calendae lost his patience with the group of children once and for all. His face darkened omiously and he opened his mouth to give the tresspassing youngsters a verbal lashing they'd never forget, when a new voice came on the scene.  
  
"What is going on here?" A long, proper, bored sounding voice with a lighter accent than Calendae's drawled from the trees, and another tall, blonde elf in identical garb emerged from the shadows with about eight others, also dressed identically. Risa stopped dead still when she saw him, a huge grin still wreathing her face. "Ohmigod! It's Haldir!" She squealed, running up and wrapping the shocked newcomer in a huge hug, and then promptly passing out cold at his feet.   
There was a brief silence, save for the chirping of a few birds somewhere in the distance. Haldir looked down at the unconcious girl with a raised eyebrow, and then turned his questioning gaze to Calendae who gave him a look that read clearly "Please Kill Me."  
"Who are these... *strange* travelers?" The marchwarden asked, eyeing up the company. Micah gave him an approving glance, too, nodding and smiling. Haldir responded with a blush and a very bewildered look, and Zoe slapped her forehead again. "WHO the hell are YOU?" Amitie asked the new arrival, looking very stressed.  
Haldir and Calendae sighed with exasperation in unison.   
"The insane, unconcious girl lying at your feet is Risa, if that helps any. Calendae seemed fascinated by that fact." Micah offered, feigning indifference to the whole affair and examining a twig on the forest floor. "Risa--" Haldir started, but was cut off by an irate brunette with a ripped skirt and stockings.  
  
"What the hell does Risa have to do with any of this that the rest of us don't?" Amitie demanded. "I mean, fuck, all I wanted to do was get a goddamn book out of the goddamn library for goddamn English class, and we end up with this peice of shit-" Amitie paused to give the book a swift kick-- "Romping about in these damn woods with a bunch of freaks wearing tights! ARGH!"  
The angry bellow echoed off the trees and returned three times over, causing all elves present to wince and cover their ears. Zoe and Micah were used to Amitie's volume, and it didn't seem to phase them; but Risa's eyes flew open and she looked paniced.  
"Where's the fire!?" She gasped, sitting bolt upright, knocking her face into Haldir's knee and swearing.  
"Not the most graceful creature, is she?" The elf sighed, reaching down and lifting her easily by one arm. Risa squeaked and beat at his hand with her fist, wiping theblood away from her nose with the other.   
"Back off, Nutless!" Micah growled, taking the unsteady Risa from the other male's ungentle grasp. Risa giggled drunkenly. "Aww... thanks, Micah-baby! Always lookin' out for me..." She passed out again, and Micah gave her a strange look. "She must have really whacked herself one," he muttered to the others. "Lack of oxygen to the brain," Zoe agreed. Amitie scowled. "Yeah, yeah, great, we all know that Risa's insane. So can we get some fucking answers, here!?"  
  
"They aren't tights, you know," Calendae offered sulkily after a few moments, and everyone present groaned. At a gesture from Haldir, they then turned away, walking a few paces off with the apparent purpose of having counsel with the other elves present. The four friends stood still and watched them suspiciously, or rather, all of them except for Amitie, who flicked them off and glared vehemently, and Risa, who was still out. Zoe and Micah exchanged worried glances over Risa's drooping head. "We gotta get outta here!" Micah whispered.  
"Really?" She drawled drily. "But how? We don't even know how we got here!" Zoe answered.  
"Hey! Where's Haldir going? Tell him to come back!" Risa pleaded as if in her sleep, and her friends cast her a confused glance. What was up with her? Why was she acting so strangely? Sure, she usually was off on some cloud, but this... this was something different and altogether frightening.  
"Hey!" Zoe gasped, snapping her fingers suddenly. "Nothing happened until we all grabbed the book, right...?"  
Amitie nodded, as if in sudden understanding. "So maybe if we all grab the damn book again..."  
"... we'll go back to Westingford!" Micah finished, and they made a move to give a high-five. Unfortunately, when Micah released Risa without thinking, the girl began to slip to the ground, and the high-five was interrupted by the tall boy's sudden dive to catch his indisposed friend. "I think the sooner we get Risa home, the better,"  
"Yeah..." the girls agreed together.  
  
Zoe, being thus far the quietest and sanest of the group, krept forward slowly, an innocent look on her face, hands folded behind her back. One of the elves turned sharply to watch her, and she smiled sweetly at him and batted her eyes, inching forward until she stood directly over the book. Then she ducked down and picked it up, holding it behind her back and standing still, smiling at the elf for a moment longer before scampering back to the huddled group. "What are they doing *now*?" Haldir asked with a roll of the eyes, turning to face them. Zoe opened the book in front of them, and slapped Risa's limp palm smack into the middle of it. The redhead didn't stir. "No! Wait!" Haldir cried in apparent distress, reaching out an arm as if to stop them.  
"NOW!" Amitie screamed, and they all clapped their hands into the book and dissapeared into the white light again.  
  
*******  
  
Amitie was first aware of the foul odor of rotting fish. It was a scent she was accustomed to, living so close to Lake LeBison and all, but she hated it none the less. It was damp wherever she was laying, and water was dripping somewhere nearby. She also had the sneaking suspicion that she'd landed in a puddle of something gooey. She wrinkled her nose without opening her eyes, and heard Micah swear muffledly somewhere to her right. She groaned, rubbing the bump on her head where the goddamn book had walloped her, and then sighed, sitting up.  
One thing was for damn sure: they were not in Westingford! Amitie wasn't sure where they were. Mostly that was because it was taking her eyes so long to adjust to the dim of the place. When they finally did, however, she looked about and realized with a sinking feeling that they were in a cave, or a pit, or a hole, or some other undesirable, stinking location.  
  
"Any survivors?" Gingringer groaned, sitting up and pushing Micah off her lap again.  
"I'm having a goddamn holiday over here. How about you, Micah?" Amitie grumbled, rubbing her sore forehead again.  
"I'm just peachy." He growled back. "And how about Risa? Has she recovered from her laughing fit yet?" He questioned, rubbing his eyes. "Dammit! Anyone have any contact drops?"   
"Risa?" Zoe called out suddenly, standing up in a hurry and whacking her head on a small stone overhang. "Goddamn dick-skinner!" She cried, cradling her wounded crown.  
"Farenel? You okay?" Amitie called, feeling a chill race up her spine and raise the tiny hairs on the back of her neck.   
There was no answer.   
"Oh my god! She's not here!" Micah gasped in horror, sitting upright and squinting around in the darkness. "Honey lamb?"  
"Risa!" Zoe cried on the verge of hysterics, her head turning frantically for left to right.  
"Shit! She's really not here!" Amitie gasped, then standing carefully.  
"Oooh Nooo!" Zoe wailed. "How can she not be here?"  
"She could've slipped out of my hands while we were going to wherever it is we are!" Micah said, deeply troubled. Amitie frowned.  
  
"My precioussss....." The three jumped, and then banded together tightly, clinging to each other in terror.   
"What the hell was that?" Zoe whispered, but Amitie didn't answer. Something small had caught her sharp grey eyes. Something small and sparkly, and goldish...  
"My preciousss! It's missing! We's lost it!" The eerie voice cried. That did it!  
"Where's the book!" Zoe screamed frantically, beginning another mad scan of the cave-place.  
"I don't know!" Micah called back in a hysterical voice.  
"Ohmigod! What if it's with Risa?"  
"We've got to get out of here!"  
"Stolen! Someone's stolen our precious! Our birthday present! Theif! Theif!"  
"It's getting closer!" Zoe practically sobbed, her fingers digging fiercely into Micah's arm.  
Amitie made a quick lunge and grabbed the shiney object, dropping it down her cleavage and into her bra without even looking at it first. "We hates them! Theives! Stolen our precious! Theives!" The voice wailed, echoing off the stone walls, coming ever closer.   
"Oooh mmyyy Godddd!"   
"We have to get out of here! Right now! I don't want to know what that thing is, or what it's looking for!"  
"But we don't have the book! And what if Risa's in here somewhere?"  
"RISA! RISA, CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Zoe called desperately.  
"RISA! RISA FARENEL!" Micah added.  
"We hates them forever! We... hates them.... forever!"  
"Fuck it!" Amitie bellowed. "RUN!" And that said, the three terrified teenagers took off down the nearest passageway, not knowing or caring where they went, just so long as they got away from the cave and the freaky creature in it.  
"Damn you, Farenel!" Amitie cursed under her breath as they ran. 


	4. IV

Something velvety. Something velvety in one place, and wet in another, was rubbing against her cheek. Then something was tickling her nose, and Risa raised a hand to bat it away gently. She was laying on her side uncomfortably, half on top of something large and hard. She blinked her eyes quickly for a minute, dimly focusing on her surroundings. She couldn't remember anything! All she could remember was something about being sucked into the book, Amitie screaming bloody murder, and Haldir, one of the elf characters in her books. What a bizarre dream! And her nose hurt, too, for some unexplainable reason. She reached up and felt the stickiness of half-dried blood on her upper lip and scowled darkly.  
Then Risa turned her head and realized she was sprawled on the center of the big table in the dining room at her Gramma's, and Tiki-Bird was sitting right in front of her, breathing in her face. "Ew! Cat breath!" She groaned, pushing the small cat further away from her and sitting up, turning to see what she'd been laying on that was so uncomfortable. The book! Of course! But where was everyone?   
She looked around, but instinctively she knew she was alone, save for the birds and Tiki, and the ticking of the wall clock in the front hall. She frowned, musing for a moment. Maybe they were playing some trick on her, for falling asleep in the middle of an adventure like the finding of the book. She smirked, and opened the book to a random page.  
  
"Come out, come out, where ever you are!" she whispered teasingly.  
The room started to shake violently, and Tiki let out a hiss and darted under the china cabinet. Risa felt her face go pale, and gripped the book so tightly her hands began to ache. A bright, white light filled the room, and the next thing she knew, she was at the bottom of a pile of people-- Micah, Zoe and Amitie, to be exact. And they were wet, covered with mud and slime, and shaking as violently as she was.  
"That was some prank!" Risa spat in fury, and then laughed.  
"YOU SAVED US!" Micah wailed, grabbing her in a tight hug. Risa gave him a *look*.  
"Oh, Thank God!" Zoe cried, also hugging her right over Micah.  
"You fucking bitch!" Amitie hissed, smacking her upside the head and then hugging her, as well.  
"No touchie!" Risa squeaked, pushing her buddie's arms away so that she could breathe and staring at them nervously. "You mean you don't remember?" Micah gasped. It was not like Risa to forget something like this. To forget anything, for that matter...  
"Quit fucking with us, Farenel!"   
"Risa, what's the matter?" Zoe asked, looking worried. "Remember what?" Risa asked blankly. What the hell was going on here?   
  
** LATER THAT NIGHT**  
  
Amitie took the armful of towels s0he'd retreived from the dryer and made her way upstairs, to the jacuzzi bathroom. It had been a long day, and an even longer night. After they'd finally gotten out of that cave and to Risa's Gramma's, things went from freaky-bad to a helluva lot worse. Risa apparentally did not remember anything that had happened, and insisted that they were just playing a mean joke on her. They tried to convince her for three hours, and then she'd just started crying and wouldn't stop. She also wouldn't let anyone touch her, or walk near her, or come withing five feet of her for any reason. Typical Risa salty mood. After another hour, the blizzard had slowed sufficiently, and Risa had drifted off to a fitful sleep in the corner of the dining room, clinging to the book. Somehow, they'd gotten her upright and made it to the back entrance of her Mom's apartment. Then they'd put her in her nightgown and put her to bed (she still wouldn't let go of the goddamn book), hoping her mom wouldn't be too suspicious when she came up from the resturaunt, because Risa was a night owl in all senses of the word. And then finally, after Zoe had set off towards home, and she'd driven Micah all over hell's half acre to Rainbow Ridge, the trailer park where he lived (no joke), she'd returned to her house and made ready for a nice, hot bath. She was, after all, still covered with mud and slime and other gross shit from that goddamn cave.   
  
She dumped the towels on the counter space next to the mirror and started the jacuzzi filling. As hot steam began to billow around the spacious bathroom, she slipped off her shirt and washed her hair under the sink, not wanting to get her bath water all nasty and disgusting. The whole point of bathing was so that she *didn't* smell like Lake LeBison. When she was finished, she piled her wet hair on top of her head and fastened it with a claw barrette, and turned off the faucets. She flipped on the jets, and just stood for a moment in the warm, humid, comforting air. She didn't know what exactly had caused the already stressfull day's even more stressful adventure, but she hoped and prayed to God that it would never happen again! Her head throbbed from where the goddamn book had hit her, and there was a nasty bruise spreading across her knees from landing in that fucking forest. Her legs also hurt from running for dear life through the goddamn cave, and she had a positively *lovely* scratch from elbow to wrist that would probably leave a light scar if she didn't take care of it right.  
  
After examining her injuries and letting out a choice string of curses on the book and wherever they'd been that afternoon, Amitie glared and set two towels closer to the bathtub and reached for the bubblebath. Then she pulled off her skirt and completely destroyed fishnets, and tossed them both straight into the small wastebasket beside the toilet, along with her shirt and the socks she'd been wearing with her boots, which she would salvage if it killed her. She turned to face the bathtub and slipped her bra off of her shoulders and was just about to undo the closures on it when something very small and shiney gold slipped out of one of the cups and fell to the floor below with a decisive "clink."  
Amitie had completely forgotten about it. She crouched down to look closer, and raised her brow as she realized exactly what it was:   
A small, plain, boring gold ring.  
  
*******  
One block away, in a nice grey house surrounded by birdfeeders, Zoe sat bolt upright in her bed with a gasp, enveloped in a cold sweat. She squinted around her dark room, searching for the cause of her rude awakening before giving up and flicking on the lamp beside her bed. Her room looked just as it always had: The pale peach walls covered with her Garfield collection, a few of her artworks and a poster she'd just *had* to have, handmade by one of her fellow FLB junior students and reading "Fort LeBison is proud to be Americans!" The shelf around the room had her few trinkets and knick-knacks, and an embroidered thingy that bore her name "Zoe Marie Gingringer," a little picture thingy and her birthdate hung next to the bed. The dark pinkish-peach carpet was free of clutter of any kind, her glow-in-the-dark blow up chair sat glowily in one corner. She studied the room again, searching for any hint of something amiss, and then sighed, running her hands over her wild hair and frowning. She was positive that she'd heard a clink of some sort, and it hadn't been one of the pipe noises she'd become so accustomed to. What had it been? And why had it woken her up?   
  
Zoe reached into the crack between her bed and wall and pulled a small, completely shredded, greyish... *something* out and cuddled it on her lap. then she began to pull her hair into messy pigtails, annoyed with it being on her neck. The something in her lap had once been a cow pufflelump affectionately dubbed "Cowie." She didn't exactly sleep with it persay, but Cowie remained the one thing Zoe stubbornly clung to from her childhood, and God help anyone who opposed her. True, the stuffed animal wasn't exactly stuffed anymore, and lacked almost all of its distinguishing features, and looked as if it had been hit several times with a lawnmower...  
Zoe sighed again and hugged Cowie a little closer, completely freaked out. She debated calling one of the others. And Risa's condition rested heavily on her mind...  
  
*******  
  
At the same moment Zoe had woken up, five miles away in Rainbow Ridge, Micah was taking a shower when a loud "CLINK!" echoed through the bathroom and scared him so bad he nearly lost his balance. Micah froze, and as he was devoid of contacts and glasses at the moment, he squinted around himself uneasily, then opened the shower curtain a crack and peeked around out there, as well. There was nothing.   
What the hell was that noise? He turned back and shut off the shower and water, climbed out of the tub and put on his glasses, and again searched the bathroom. Still nothing. He scowled and dried off, then pulled on his plaid pj pants and white beater, and padded barefoot down the hallway to his bedroom. He shut the door and searched around nervously there, as well, but just like in the bathroom, there was nothing. He could hear the TV in the living room, and he could hear the sounds of a video game from his little brother's room, but other than that, nothing. He sighed and flopped down on his bed, trying to figure out what had spooked him. Maybe he was paranoid. Maybe he did need therapy. Maybe school and everything had finally gotten to him. He glanced at the cell-phone beside his bed for amoment, debating whether or not he should call Amitie or Zoe and see if they were okay. He could call Risa, but she might still be asleep, and the last thing anyone needed was for him to get her Mom worried and   
hysterical. So Micah just pulled the pillow over his head and lay there for a while, not wanting to sleep, but not wanting to stay awake, either. Outside, the wind began howling again. Good, Micah thought. Maybe school will be cancelled tomorrow.  
  
*******  
In the small apartment above Farenel's take-out resturaunt, one block from Amitie's house and two from Zoe's, Risa sat bolt upright in bed, and then frowned in confusion. *Now* where the hell was she? It took a few minutes for her mind to settle. She was in her bedroom, in her bed, in her nightgown, hugging the Elvish book and shivering. Something was up, and she didn't know what. She had the sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the crack-pot story her friends had tried to feed her last week... or was it yesterday? Or two hours ago? Risa paused, her hands on either side hof her head, trying to sort out her thoughts, which were whirling like the blizzard outside, which had either returned or never let up. She hoped the group had gotten home okay. She set the book carefully beside her on one of her eight pillows, and rose from her futon and glided to the window, pulling back the bamboo blind and peering out. It was nightime, she was sure, and the snow had formed a nearly solid white wall.   
  
She turned and surveyed her room, which was actually neat for once. The tatami mat was spotless, as usual, and the grey carpet was fluffy on her bare feet. Heath Ledger stared into space from the giant poster on her wall, and Brad Pitt's eyes followed her from the countless magazine cutouts and computer print-outs that flanked the Heath Ledger poster, as well as from his own poster at the foot of her bed. Her friends grinned in their frames on her dressing table bookshelves, and Brad Pitt as Louis de Pointe du Lac brooded in the giant drawing she'd done forever ago. Countless unlit candles and tiny statues and vases of flowers, stood comfortingly at the foot of her bed and to the right. She quickly struck a match and lit one of the candles, and the masses of silk flowers that surrounded her bed in a bower made unusual shadows on the walls, the wysteria vines and white rose vines above illuminating eerily. Risa stared at it all as if she'd never seen it before.   
  
She felt as though she hadn't, but she knew she had to have! This was her room! Or was it?  
Risa couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She could not control her emotions or memory. Nothing made sense, and she felt so dissoriented and... lost. Risa sighed and padded back to her bed, sinking back down into the blankets and multitudes of pillows and pulling the book beside her, opening it up and running her fingers across the bizarre yet familar writings inside. She settled back and began to read, but the story was troubling her. Something about it and what her friends had told her were just hitting too close to home. As she read on, Risa began to grow more and more fearful and disturbed, until at last she lay on her side, again gripping the book until her knuckles turned white, and shaking like a leaf. And finally, halfway through the book, the last straw was pulled.  
Risa gasped and covered her face with her hands. It couldn't be true! There was just no way!  
Her trembling intensified and a small, quiet sob escaped from her. Was that what was wrong with her? Was Risa loosing her mind?  
  
*******  
  
Amitie reguarded the ring puzzledly. So that's what it had been! A Ring! She poked it with a finger, and nothing happened. She sighed, scooping it up and dropping it on the counter next to the rest of the towels. She'd examine it later, and ask the others what they thought of it. If there were any signifigance at all, Risa would definitely know. She took off her bra and stepped into the swirling water, sighing with pleasure and sinking down into the bubbles.  
Without warning, lightening flashed outside the window and a dull rumbling filled the air, just like it had that afternoon. Amitie glared at the curtained window and flicked it the bird, not prepared to give up her jacuzzi so soon. If that lightening wanted her out of the tub, it could just come in and get her itself!  
A sudden white light filled the room, and Amitie leapt up form the bathtub.  
"FUCK! I wasn't SERIOUS!" She cried, and ran to the counter and grabbed the ring on impulse, just as the light circled around her and she began to fall again....  
  
*******  
  
Zoe had finally convinced herself that nothing was wrong, and reluctantly slid Cowie back into her place just as lightening flashed outside and thunder rolled.  
"Two bad snow storms in one day. Only in Westingford!" Zoe grumbled, shifting to her knees to peek out the window at the great dizzying whitness that shrouded her front yard. And then as if on cue, a bright white light filled the room. Zoe grabbed her blue blanket up to her chest, just as the light twirled around her, sending her pigtails flying, and she began to fall just like they had that afternoon. Zoe shreiked and shut her eyes tight as she felt the bed evaporate beneath her.   
  
*******  
  
"Micah! Phone! And don't be one too long, it just started to thunder!"  
Micah grumbled and got up form bed, making his way blearily into the living room. He did not want to be bothered. The only exceptions would be Amitie, Zoe, or Risa. Micah smiled a little and hoped against hope that it would be Risa, feeling all better and wanting to bitch at him about something totally irrevelent; as was her custom.  
"Be quick!" His mother mouthed, casting an uneasy glance towards the window, and the thunder rumbled to enforce her point. Micah nodded and reached for the phone, taking it just as a blinding light fillled the room. His mother screamed and Micah dropped the phone in terror, falling backwards, fearing that lightening really had struck a phone line and he was going to die. But Micah never hit the ground, because just before he did, the light surrounded him, and he just kept falling and falling....  
  
*******  
Risa sank down against the window, too upset to even heed the lightening that flashed outside.   
She couldn't be loosing her mind! It wasn't fair! Her mind was just about all she had....  
Despite her shock and terror, Risa had finished the book, speed reading like she never had before. "It won't happen to us..." She murmured, wishing she'd never read it at all, wishing she'd never even seen it! The things that had happened to her friends, to the characters she felt she knew like friends... it didn't make sense! Why would Gramma write something like this? How could she? It couldn't be real! Sure, everyone knew her Gramma had a few screws loose,but...  
Risa leapt to her feet in a sudden fury. Her eyes flashed green fire and she scowled darkly about her, gripping her head again and shaking it as if to drive what she'd just learned from her befuddled mind.  
"No! I can't! I won't! I won't, I won't!" She shrieked, throwing open the window suddenly and turning furiously to her bed, glaring down at the book which rested there in seeming innocence...   
"I won't go insane, and you can't make me! You can't! You have no power over me, do you hear me, you goddamn book? NONE!"  
  
Snow flew into her bedroom and blew out the candle, and also knocked several of her Brad Pitt pictures off the wall, setting the Heath Ledger poster loose so that it flapped madly around and ripped straight across the middle. Risa was too upset to care. Candles were knocked over, and her flower garlands came loose and lashed at her like whips. She ignored them as well and grabbed up the book, turning and stomping furiously to the window and ripping her curtains and blinds down in her haste to get them out of her way.  
"You will never control us! Not me, not my friends, not those other people, not any of us, NEVER!" She seethed, her hands and arms stinging from the violent cold. Thunder rumbled again, and her furious gaze turned to the opened window. She took two steps forward and cast the book out with all her might.  
"SO THERE!" She roared, but then something totally unforseen took place. The book stopped, suspended in mid air, and opened again, a light coming out with such force that Risa shielded her face with her arms.   
"NO!" She screamed, and the light surrounded her, pulling her violently out the window towards it. In the frantic flight, Risa's head cracked against the window frame, and everything began to fade around her.  
"Nooo!" she whimpered, and the last thing she remembered was the feeling that she was falling... 


	5. V

Amitie was falling again, and swore loudly as she saw the forest rise up to greet her again, throwing her arms over her face and head and hoping for the best. She landed with a heavy "THUD!", but at least this time there were no branches to contend with. She groaned painfully and lay still, flat on her back, her eyes shut tight. The goddamn ring was clinched in her fist still, and when Amitie finally opened her eyes, she realized that she was in the same goddamn clearing as before! But it seemed.... different, somehow! As if most of the damage they'd caused had grown back! Trees and ferns and shit growing back in one afternoon? Now that was pure, unaltered B.S., straight and simple, and Amitie didn't care what goddamn magical wherever she was, with gnomes and pixies and shit running around shooting arrows at people!  
  
Amitie was just about to continue on with her silent rant when something in the clear blue sky above caught her eye. A small dark speck, coming closer and closer... and it looked like it had a dark tail streaking after it... by the time Amitie realized what it was and let out a loud bellow, it was too late, because Zoe came soaring out of the sky and landed smack on her stomache. The "tail" had been Zoe's navy blue blanket.  
"DAMMIT!" Amitie wheezed, pushing Zoe off of her and clutching her injured abdomen.  
"J-Jamensen? Is that you?" Zoe murmured.   
"No, Gingringer, it's the goddamn Easter Bunny!"  
"JAMENSEN! THANK GOD!" The younger girl shrieked, flinging her arms around Amitie and squeezing her.  
"Are you trying to fucking KILL ME!?" Amitie demanded, pushing her off again. Zoe paled.  
"My God-- Amitie! Where are your clothes?"  
Amitie looked down and blushed crimson, grabbing Zoe's blanket and wrapping it around herself securely. "I was in the damn jacuzzi and then suddenly--"  
The girls had been so absorbed in Amitie's lack of clothing and their current predicament, that they didn't even notice Micah's arrival until he landed inelegantly on Amitie's head.  
"DAMMIT!" The brunette screeched again, clutching her already bruised skull and whimpering.  
"Evening, Ladies... or morning, rather," Micah said with a tinge of sarcasm, examining the sky with a look of obvious displeasure. Amitie stopped and examined her two friends in turn.  
  
Gingringer looked as though she'd been in bed when she got abducted. Her curls were pulled into two mussed pigtails high on her head and secured with orange ribbons, and she wore a silk, sleeveless peach nightshirt that buttoned down the front. Her glasses sat crookedly on her face, and her feet were bare. She had several scratches on her face, neck and arms, and a very nasty looking swollen ankle. She also had a helluva black eye. Micah was not dressed much better, in his baggy plaid pyjama pants and tight white beater. His hair was wind-blown and ungelled, and his glasses were hanging off of one ear. He was also bruised and scraped, although his worse injury appeared to be a rather bad-looking swollen wrist. He, too, was barefoot.  
"Amitie... where are your clothes?" The boy asked suddenly, righting his glasses and cradling the wrist to his chest. "I was in the damn jacuzzi when the damn light came. How about you?" she seethed.  
"I had just gotten a phone call. Mom must be hysterical, she saw the whole thing!" The tall lad said, a look of worry invading his hazel-green eyes suddenly. "I was in bed, watching the blizzard." Zoe sighed.  
"With Cowie?"  
"Shut the hell up, Jamensen!"  
  
At that exact moment, an arrow shot right past Zoe's nose, and they all flew back in surprise, and then stared at it, sticking out of the moss and quivering a few feet away. Zoe paled, eyes wide, but Micah growled.  
"ALRIGHT, FUCKERS! WHO WAS IT?" He yelled, standing up and searching the foliage menacingly.  
They all sat tensely for a moment, and Amitie watched Zoe with some concern. It looked as if the girl was going to pass out, and the last thing they needed was another Risa on their hands... Risa!   
"Guys! Risa's not here!" Amite gasped suddenly, but she was ignored, because a tall figure had just emerged from the trees and was staring down on them with mild disbelief.  
"HALDIR!" Zoe cried, leaping up and hugging him tight, so much was her relief. Zoe's biggest pet peeve was being touched, so you *know* she had to be relieved! The blonde elf looked down at her quizzically as he took her by the shoulders and firmly removed her from his person.  
  
"Didn't you have tresses of copper the last we met?"  
Tresses of Copper? What the fuck ever, Amitie thought as Zoe shook her head. "No, that was Risa. We were just afraid that your were something gross and nasty, like those fork things she's always going on about!" She explained.  
The elf arched a brow, but then nodded, taking another step back as Calendae emerged from the shadows with a female elf they'd yet to meet.  
"You again!" Calendae exclaimed, horror on his face.  
"You never called!" Micah accused teasingly from behind Zoe, and Haldir and Calendae exchanged *looks*. "Where is the red-haired one? Risa?" Calendae asked once he'd apparently gotten over his discomfort.  
"Hopefully, she's still at home with that crazy book." Micah muttered in reply.  
Amitie got to her feet, still clutching both ring and blanket around herself. The elves looked at her incredulously, and she glared daggers at them. "Take a fucking polaroid! It'll last longer!" She spat, and they each took a step back even further. The female remained as she was, looking very lost in the happenings.  
  
Haldir made a motion with his hand, and his companions lowered their weapons.  
"We need you to come with us. You must speak with the Lady of the Wood!" The female implored suddenly, her voice soft and lilting. Haldir shot her a withering glance, and she returned it full force. Amitie decided that the chick was sort of okay. Besides, she looked to be about their ages. "It's not like we have much choice, lady."  
"I am called Naira. Please, you must come. All of Middle Earth is in danger! Lady Galadriel insisted that if you appeared again, you should be taken to her at once."  
"So... take us already!" Micah exclaimed impatiently, shifting from one bare foot to the other.  
The elf girl smiled shyly at him, and Amitie couldn't help but giggle a bit. Poor Micah! Always with the girls! "This way," Haldir said, shooting another look at Naira, who again returned the look and slipped off into the shadows with Calendae, leaving Haldir to guide the rag-tag trio to this Lady Galadriel.  
  
Just before they reached what Amitie assumed was where they were going, Naira appeared again, and together they entered a place that Amitie could only describe as *amazing*. It was just , so... so... words had left her, and for Amitie that was quite a feat! The place was all pretty and sparkling and... well, pretty! There were big trees and flowers and all these glowing tree houses... Risa would've had a field day! Or passed out again...  
  
Haldir guided Micah into one of the treehouses, and Naira took the girls to a different one.  
"Here," Naira said when they were inside, handing Amitie a short, greyish-green dress out of some clingy material.   
"Oh my God! Thank you so much!" She cried with extreme relief, rushing behind a nearby screen and pulling the dress over her head, never letting go of the ring for a minute. She re-emerged, and Zoe grabbed her blanket back, knotting it firmly around her neck like a cape (another common practice of hers).   
  
(Meanwhile, in the other "treehouse")  
  
Micah stood uncertainly in the center of the little lofty thing while the elf set his bow ans quiver in a corner and dissapeared around a small screen.  
"Here, You may wear this," Haldir said, returning and holding out a tunic that nearly matched the one he wore himself. "Oh... thanks!" Micah replied a bit uncertainly, and pulled the gauzy green material over his head at once. When he readjusted his glasses, he caught the elf looking at him. They held each other's gaze for a minute, and then both looked away, blushing. Haldir cleared his throat and gestured towards the doorway. "Oh, uh, yeah, after you!" Micah mumbled, and with that they both stumbled outside again, meeting the girls and not daring to look at each other.  
  
"Micah, what did you do to him?" Amitie whispered once the elves went on ahead.  
"Me? I didn't do a damn thing to him!"   
"Yeah, uh huh, suuure!" Zoe teased. Micah didn't have time to give her the stinging comeback he had planned, because at that moment, a pair entered the treehouse thingy and stood together staring at them with what seemed to be mild amusement.  
  
"I am the Lady Galadriel, and this is my Lord, Celeborn." The woman said, gesturing to the tall, handsome man beside her, who inclined his head regally. The woman was beautiful, tall and fair, and the group found themselves speechless in her prescence. She smiled warmly. "Welcome to Lothlorien." 


	6. VI

The forest was bright and sunny. Birds were singing and fluttering merrily from tree to tree, and every now and then, a deer or a rabbit could be seen in the shadows of the ferns. Two horses clopped lazily down a faint path, their riders obviously in no real hurry to be anywhere anytime soon and just trying to enjoy the sunshine.   
  
The first horse was a great brown creature, with an intricately tooled saddle and bridle. His rider was a tall, lean man in a weatherbeaten cloak and heavy leather boots. He was rather unkempt looking, with tangled brown curls and peircing grey eyes, and a bit of scruff on his chin and jaw. He appeared to be deep in serious thought -- brooding, if you will-- and not paying much attention to either the horse he rode or the forest around him.   
The second horse was slightly smaller than the first, bright white in color, who occasionally danced a bit from side to side. He wore no saddle, no bridle, nothing to control or restrain him. The rider perched lightly on his back was tall as the first rider was, perhaps a touch shorter, although he was more graceful than his companion... and far cleaner.   
He had long fair hair pulled away from his face, and bronze-grey eyes that scanned the forest relentlessly, turning his head at the slightest breeze in the leaves. He didn't seem to be apprehensive, though; rather, he seemed to be enjoying himself greatly. He wore a quiver of arrows, and a bow was slung easily over his back.  
  
"Exactly why are we going to Rivendell, again?" The first man asked suddenly, as if he'd been thinking about it for hours, which he had, of course. He had a surprisingly fine voice, considering his outward appeareance. The fair man behind him (who was in all truth an elf and no man at all) shrugged good naturedly.  
"I'm not sure if even Lord Elrond himself knows, Aragorn." He sighed, looking comptemplative for a moment or two. "So many strange things have taken place over these past few years... I tell you, it makes no sense."  
"Nothing makes sense anymore, Legolas," Aragorn replied, addressing the rider behind him.   
They rode on in easy silence for a while longer, both lost in their own thoughts for the time being.   
  
Legolas heard it first, a very soft sound, a sound that did not belong in the forest. He lightly touched his horse's neck, and the creature stopped immeadiatly. Legolas sat up even straighter than before, nearly standing, tilted his head and listened. Ahead, Aragorn noticed the absence of the clopping second set of hooves, and also stopped, turning about and listening. "What is it?" He asked, but then he heard the sound, too.  
"I'm not sure..." The elf replied, and they sat still for a moment longer, listening to the eerie sound that came drifting to them through the forest.  
  
"Wastin' away again, in margaritaville... searchin' for my, lost shaker of salt..." A very soft, wistful voice sang from a short distance away. "This way," Aragorn said, dismounting and making his way into the forest, his hand on the handle of his sword.  
"Some people claim that there's a woman to blame... but I know... it's nobody's fault..."  
Legolas followed him suite, and together they krept silently into the shadows, following the strange singing until they found themselves in a very small, sunny clearing quite a ways from the path... but it was empty!   
"Don't know the reason, I stayed here all season, nothing's for sure but this brand new tattoo..."   
They looked at each other suspiciously, still listening closely, very disturbed.  
"What sorcery is this?" Legolas whispered, but Aragorn held up a hand for silence.  
"--How it got here, I haven't a clue-- Wastin' away again in margaritaville... searching for my lost, shaker of salt..."  
As if their minds were somehow linked, Legolas and Aragorn looked at each other sharply, and then their gazes travled together up into the leafy canopy above, and then they both froze and stared up in shock.  
  
"But I know, it's my own damn fault..."  
A girl was in the tree! She was caught under the arms in the crook of two branches some thirty feet up, swinging her legs gently and singing softly as if she had no idea she was in a tree at all, let alone in such an impossible position.  
"However did she get all the way up there!" Legolas gasped, and Aragorn shook his head in mute shock. "There's no way she could have gotten to those branches by climbing from the ground!"  
"Perhaps we should assist her?" Legolas murmured, casting another concerned glance up the tree. "She may be in some sort of trouble." Aragorn studied the elf for a moment and was slightly disturbed to find him completely serious.   
"You have a keen sense of the obvious, my friend," Aragorn sighed, then shook his head slightly, shading his eyes and trying to see if the girl was injured. He couldn't tell. "You are a better climber than I, Legolas. Go up and try to help her down." Legolas nodded and removed his bow and quiver, handing them to his companion. "I'll see what I can do... but I cannot guarantee I'll get to her." And with that he easily started his ascent.   
  
"Hail, maid! Are you alright and unharmed?" Aragorn called up, and the strange song stopped abruptly as the girl turned and looked down at him blankly for a moment.   
"Hail, little man! Isn't the sunlight sunny today?" she called back, and then promptly returned to her song. Aragorn heard Legolas chuckle from somewhere in the tree, and narrowed his eyes. What kind of reply was that?  
"Wastin' away again in margaritaville... searching for my, lost (lost) shaker of--"  
"Maid!"  
"Little Man!"  
"I am not a little man!"  
"You are from up here."  
Aragorn heard Legolas chuckle again, and shook his head. Was she *trying* to be difficult, or was she simply confused by whatever had happened to her? "How did you get trapped in this tree?"  
"I flew!" The girl called cheerfully in reply, spreading her arms wide in imitation of wings. Unfortunately, this caused her body to slip from the branches she was suspended in. Aragorn gave a shout and held out his arms as if to catch her, but she soon landed on another branch in a flurry of leaves and squawking birds, some ten feet down.   
"Are you alright?" Aragorn called again. He could see her better now; a very young, pale creature with a mass of red hair, clad in a long, thin gown of some sort.  
"I-I'm fine..." the girl replied shakily, staring down at him as if she were really *aware* for the first time in their conversation. She looked as if she would like to say more, but just then, Legolas appeared on the limb a few feet away from her.  
  
He couldn't understand how such a short creature could've made the climb with such apparent ease! The tree was wide, and the branches were far spaced. It wasn't so difficult for him, but for one as small as the girl... well, it couldn't have been easy for her.   
His vision of her was hindered by the branches and leaves, but he knew where she was by following her voice. She didn't seem to be quite in her right mind... but of course, how could anyone expect anyone hanging precariously in a tree to be in their right mind?   
He climbed ever further, covering the distance effortlessly. Aragorn gave a sudden shout, and a blur of white and red fell past his eyes. Legolas reached out with one arm, but he didn't catch her in time. He sighed with relief as she landed somewhat heavily on a branch a few feet down from where he was.  
It took almost no time for him to reach her, and he leaned out on the branch carefully. Her head snapped his way as he did, and she trembled violently. Aside from several scrapes and scratches, and a few bad bruises, she appeared to be unharmed. He couldn't quite make out one side of her face, as there was a mess of braids hanging in front if it. From what he could see, however, the girl was completely petrified. Well, at least she had some sense left about her!  
  
"Are you alright?" He asked none-the-less, and her face seemed to cloud over breifly, and then clear, replaced by a bright, sunny smile, though her eyes remained troubled. "Well, aren't you a pretty one!" She quipped coyly, and Legolas gave her a blank look. 'Pretty one'? He sighed. This rescue was about to become more interesting, to say the least. He climbed out on the branch a little further, unsure of their combined weights on the slender appendage. "Can you come to me?" He asked softly, and she giggled.  
"Is that your idea of a pick-up line?"  
Legolas gave her another blank look, confused. Perhaps she'd hit her head... The girl giggled again. "Alright, Hansomer, hold your horses, I'm coming." And with that, she unsteadily crawled closer to him. Hold his horses? But his horse was below, still on the path or wandering the forest for all he knew. The girl was almost close enough to touch now, but the branch let out a loud creak and drifted downwards several inches.  
  
"Stop!" Legolas cried, wrapping one arm around the trunk securely. The girl froze, apparentally terrified again.  
"Take care, Legolas!" Aragorn called from the ground. Legolas clenched his teeth. As if he wasn't *trying* to be careful! "If either of us move, this damn branch is gonna break!" The girl whispered, the dreamy, cheerful look fading from her face, her eyes wide again. Legolas knew she was right. He frowned. There was something familiar about her features, but he couldn't... he shook his head.  
"Take my hand," he commanded, and she obliged with no questions, gripping his hand as if her life depended on it... which it very well may. "Now, come towards me, slo--"   
  
**CRACK!**  
  
As he spoke, the branch gave way. He held fast to both her hand and the trunk, but his grip on the tree failed and they both went plummeting to the ground, landing side by side with a rather grave sounding  
  
**THUD!**  
  
Aragorn rushed to them, but Legolas had already sat up, slightly shaken, but unharmed. The girl lay on her back, giggling. "That was awesome! Can we do it again?"  
"NO!" Both Legolas and Aragorn exclaimed in unison. Aragorn crouched by her side and helped her to a sitting position. She continued giggling helplessly, even though she was still pale and shaken.  
"She appears unharmed," Legolas muttered, bruching leaves, twigs and dirt from his clothing and hair. "Obviously," Aragorn replied in a matching tone.   
  
The girl's manner shifted abruptly and she gasped, staring at them in terror. "Who are you?" She demanded, jumping to her feet and looking down at them anxiously. As her braided hair fell back over her shoulders, Legolas noticed a horrendous black burise covering the side of her face, swollen horribly, and encircling one of her eyes. Had she had it before, or was it the fault of the fall?  
"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Legolas, son of Thranduil of the Elves. And by what name shall we call you?"  
Confusion flashed acrost the girl's face, and her eyes filled with tears once more. She covered them with her hands, deathly white, and swayed dangerously. Aragorn caught her arm, but she shrieked and struck at his hand severely. He released her, taking several steps back. Then the dreamy look invaded her form again. "Wastin' awaya, again, in Margarita--" She whispered, and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she slid to the ground. "Margarita?" The males repeated in confused unison, but she didn't stir.  
Legolas and Aragorn stood side by side and stared down at the small, still figure in bewilderment. A slight breeze stirred the clearing. The birds sang. The sun shone.  
  
"Whatever happened to her, it must have been very terrible," Legolas finally said.   
"She certainly doesn't seem to be emotionally stable," Aragorn agreed. They stared at her a moment longer, and Aragorn handed Legolas his bow and quiver, which he accepted with a nod of thanks. "Does she look familiar to you?" Aragorn asked suddenly, tilting his head slightly.  
"I thought she did earlier, but I can't think why... or who she resembles, for that matter."  
"Let's take her to Rivendell with us. What's one more unexplained occurance in these confused times?"  
"Well, we certainly can't leave her here alone."  
"Agreed. You take her." And with that, Aragorn quickly started back towards the horses.  
"Me?! Why do I have to take her? I had to climb up the tree to get her!"  
"She didn't try to assault you when you touched her, did she?"  
"Point taken." The elf sighed, bending and lifting the prone girl somewhat reluctantly.  
"Come Along now, Margarita." He murmured, following his comrade. "Do you think Lord Elrond will mind?"  
"I hope not, because he has no choice. I'm not about to leave a scared child wandering the forest alone with nightfall impending. One can only imagine what will be prowling these woods once the sun sets."  
They reached the horses and remounted, Legolas trying to settle Margarita securely before him as Aragorn started off again. They rode in silence for a while.  
  
"You don't suppose she's a spy, do you?" Legolas said quietly and somewhat doubtfully as they entered Rivendell, again leaving their horses. The girl's head had fallen against his shoulder, and he glanced down at her nervously. Aragorn paused, and they held each other's gaze for a moment. Margarita out a soft moan, and they shifted their gazes to her. Her eyelids fluttered, but remained shut and she sighed.  
"Why do you build me up... build me up... buttercup, baby..." She sang quietly, and then drifted back into silence. The friends looked back up at each other, and then burst into loud laughter, making their way to Elrond's home. 


	7. VII

"Uh...." Amitie sputtered, speechless. Galadriel laughed pleasently, and for some reason, Amitie's face burned crimson.  
"Many years has it been since last you were seen in Middle Earth. In that time, much has come to pass. Much that should not have, and much that should have and has not." The lovely woman said, but was greeted by three blank stares from the teenagers and two confused glances from the elves. She sighed.  
"Something of great importance to the balance of middle Earth has come missing. Events that I have forseen shall not take place unless it is returned."  
"Look, Lady, we don't know what you want from us, but this isn't exactly our bag, if you will. We just wanna go home and check on Risa." Micah said a bit saltily, and Haldir put a warning hand on his shoulder. Micah turned back to glance at him, and the elf snatched his hand back as if Micah had stabbed it with a dagger. Galadriel's lips twitched and her eyes sparkled, but she said nothing. Amitie chewed her lip, and said nothing.  
  
"Risa has her own purpose in Middle Earth, I assure you. And she is quite safe, and in good hands. But I must warn you --all three of you -- If Middle Earth should fail, if history should be changed... then your world shall never come to be.  
"JiggaWHA!?" Zoe cried, going pale. "You mean, all that 'Middle Earth was the beginning' crap that Risa droned on about is true? We're in the past!?"  
"Yes, Zoe. And if we do not take care, your very lives hang in the balance."  
"If this is really Earth, then why aren't there any elves or moppits or gnomes and what not in our world, or time, or whatever?" Micah asked far more politely than before.   
"And where exactly is Risa? Is she okay? She was so upset last time..."  
  
Galadriel held up a hand for silence, sighed and lowered her eyes. "They are there, Micah but you do not see them. Ask me not these things, for they make my heart heavy."  
"But--" Micah clapped his hand over Zoe's mouth before she could say more.  
Amitie frowned stormily. She was positive now that all this had to do with the ring clenched tightly in her fingers, and the way Galadriel stared imploringly into her eyes was not helping. She squirmed uncomfortably, shifting from foot to foot. "We'll keep all that in mind, Miss Galadriel. May we go now?"   
  
Zoe, Micah, Haldir, Naira, Calendae and even Celeborn turned and stared at her in open shock. Galadriel raised an eyebrow. Since when was Amitie Little Miss Manners? Amitie gave them all a *look*, and then spun on her bare heels and hurried away, down the winding stairs and into the open forest. She needed to think, and to be alone. Amitie wasn't sure what she'd started with her love of shiney objects, but she knew she had to set it right. Not only for her own sake, and for that of her friends, but for the fucking strange people in Middle Earth, too. There seemed to be something familiar about the elves, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it...  
  
She sighed softly and flopped to the ground, brooding. Somehow, she'd have to take the ring back to that nasty-ass cave and put it back. But how? And where was the cave? Was it too late? And why wouldn't that Galadriel chick tell them anything about Risa? Amitie picked at her borrowed dress and frowned. Whatever the fuck was going on here, she was going to get to the bottom of it. But it all seemed just a little too much like a bad acid trip for her to really believe any of it.  
  
*******  
  
"Aragorn... unicorn... hawthorne... newborn..."  
Aragorn sighed and stared bleakly at the wondrous view before him. He leaned heavily on the balcony railing and resisted the urge to beat his head against it. Legolas perched lightly on the railing itself a few yards away, busily checking the fastening of the feathers on the ends of his arrows, seemingly oblivious to the small figure who was slowly driving Aragorn to madness. "Rip Torn... forlorn... ."  
Their charge sat neatly on a bench a few feet away, ankles crossed, hands folded in her lap. And she was, and had been, reciting rhyming words for various objects in and around the palace for a good hour and a half. They were waiting for Elrond, and at this point, Aragorn feared that the Lord of Rivendell might never arrive. "Shorn... scorn... mourn... sojourn... "  
  
He began to drum his fingers against the stone railing at an ever incresing speed until Legolas finally looked up at him with a raised brow. "Is everything alright, Aragorn?"  
"Horn... corn... porn... Ha! Porn!"  
The elf caught the look in the man's eye and smiled softly. "I really don't think she can help it, you know."  
"Be as that ma--"  
"I'll see what I can do." Legolas cut in, not waiting for Aragorn to finish. He set his arrows aside and slipped off of the railing, seating himself beside the young woman and murmuring in her ear. Her face slowly changed from impish joy to pouting puzzlement, and after a few moments, Legolas stood and returned to his earlier activity.  
  
They all sat in quiet for several minutes, Legolas's fingers busily working, and Aragorn watching Margarita's confused face with a mix of amusement and awe. Every now and again her mouth would open as if she would speak, but then shut again as if her words didn't seem quite right.  
"How did you get her to do it?" He finally asked softly, trying not to attract attention and start the idle chattering again. Legolas paused in his work, and then leaned back slightly, a self-pleased smile lighting his fine features. "I asked her to recite the rhymes for my name."  
Aragorn chuckled. "I wish I'd thought of that!"  
Legolas laughed softly, and then they went back to silence, a comfortable, pastoral peace lying over the scene.  
  
*******  
  
Night was falling. Amitie sighed and finally rose from her position at the base of a large tree, and wandered back into Lothlorien. She had to find that Galadriel chick and get some answers! It wasn't easy to find the elf woman. Everything in the damn place looked nearly identical to Amitie, and she found herself travelling winding staircases for a good three hours before she found the Big Huge Tree House again.  
Amitie was not at ease. She wanted to go home, and get back in the jacuzzi. She was uncomfortable in the short dress with nothing covering her legs, and no underwear, either; and the damn ring had been in her hand so long it left an imprint in her palm.  
  
Freakier still, Galadriel was standing in the front of the room when she entered, as if she'd been waiting for Amitie to show up all along.  
"Amitie Jamensen. No doubt you know what you have done."  
"Yeah, yeah, I fucked up the universe. So how do I fix it?"  
Galadriel laughed. "You cannot simply 'fix it.' It is a very complicate--"  
"The hell I can't! You know what, lady? I don't know what mind games you're trying to pull with me, but I'm not buyin' it. Either you can help me, or I can just leave and figure it out myself... only, I don't know if I can figure it out in time. So you fucking choose! Either you help me, or the world gets flushed down the astral shit-hole." Galadriel stared at her with a rather dissaproving, level stare. "Ma'am." Amitie muttered as an afterthought, and Galadriel's lips twitched again.  
  
"Do you realize, Amitie, that it has been nearly sixty years ince you and your friends first entered our realm?"  
"FUCK NO! It was just this afternoon!" Amitie cried, distressed. The woman shook her head. "Sixty years, Amitie. And in order to undo your mistakes, you must go back those sixty years, and replace the ring in Gollum's cave. It was never meant to be found by you, or taken from Middle Earth."  
"I have to go back in time!? Jesus fucking Christ, this just gets worse and worse and worse. How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Amitie's eyes filled with tears in an unusal moment of weakness. "I wish Risa was here. She probably knows about some damn spring or cave or rock or goat that could do just that."  
  
Galadriel's eyes filled with sympathy. "There is a way, Amitie. And I will tell you where to go so that you may do this thing."  
"Thanks, Galadriel." Amitie sighed, pissed off at herself for crying in front of anyone, let alone this Queen/Sorceress whatever she was gal. "Amitie... you must know. Risa is here, in Middle Earth. She is in Rivendell, the haven of my son-in-law." The blonde woman said gently.   
"Is she okay?" Amitie demanded immeadiatly.  
Galadriel hesitated. "Physically, yes. But emotionally, she is damaged. Risa is connected to Middle Earth in a way even I do not understand; but she is also of your world. The more confused our worlds become, the more confused her mind grows. The longer it takes to undo your mistake, the more she suffers."  
"What the FUCK! I hate this damn place!" The teenager bellowed, enraged. "Then tell me what to do so I can get going!"  
Galadriel laughed, and then took Amitie by the arm, and together they left the loft, Galadriel speaking lowly in Aimtie's ear, as the girl put to memory everything the elf said.  
  
*******  
  
Zoe sat calmly on the tree branch, watching Galadriel and Amitie walk together. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but she was pretty damn sure they weren't secret lovers. The blonde had traded her flimsy night dress for more practical garb: A shirt and tunic and tights all in shades of grey-green. She also wore tall, dark green boots and her blanket knotted about her shoulders for comfort. She never dreamed she'd be sitting in a tree, wearing funky clothing, surrounded by elves. Sure, she and Risa used to pretend all the time, but floating down the creek in a canoe was one thing, and living the fantasy was another. Zoe sighed sadly and frowned. She really missed Risa. She'd been pretty worried about her, but she knew Risa could take care of herself. And if she was in Middle Earth, she was probably off on a "Hott Elf Hunt" by now. That thought made Zoe smile, and it was because she smiled that she happened to see Amitie, wrapped up in a long grey cloak, stealing quietly away from Lothlorien.  
"Oh, no you don't!" Zoe muttered, slipped down from the tree, and followed stealthily. But Zoe was not the only one to see Amitie leave, and the other watchers had no intentions of letting the girl go alone, either.  
  
*******  
  
Amitie nearly jumped out of her skin when Zoe's hand clamped down on her shoulder.  
"Fuck!" She cried, spinning around and glaring at the girl. "What are you doing here, Gingringer?" She demanded a bit harshly even to her own ears.  
"Back at you, bitch! Trying ot sneak away all alone! I saw you and Galadriel talking! Now spit it out! what the hell is going on?"   
Amitie sighed. "Alright, fine. When we were in that freaky cave, I found a ring. Because I took this ring, Middle Earth and Earth are slowly being thrown off balance and destroyed. Risa's in Rivendell with some dude named Elrond, and if I don't fix my fuck up in time, we can kiss Middle Earth, Earth as we know it, our lives as we know them, and Risa's sanity goodbye. Got it?"   
"Risa has sanity?"  
"I'M SERIOUS, YOU GODDAMN WHORE!" Amitie yelled, shaking her fist in Zoe's face. Zoe paled and fell back. "Ack! Jeez, okay! I get it! Excuse me and my damn sarcasm! You know I can't control it!"   
"Yer gonna have to learn, bitch!"  
"Fine, fine! Dammit to shit to hell to baloney!"  
  
They walked on in silence for a long while, jumping at every slight rustling in the forest.  
"It sure is dark." Zoe breathed after a while.  
Amitie was quiet for a long time after that. "Hey, Gingringer?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Thanks for coming after me."  
"No problem, Jamensen."   
And with that, they continued on their way.  
  
*******  
  
Micah watched Amitie leave, and a few moments later, Zoe. Out of the loop again! So they were just going to leave him here in Lothlorien while they went out and saved the world or whatever? Not on his watch! Micah waited a few minutes, and then followed them out, planning to catch up with them as soon as possible. He could hear their voices ahead, but he didn't want to shout or yell or anything, because God only knew *what* was wandering around out there! Luckily, one of his long strides made up two of theirs, and he was making good time. He shivered a little, wishing he'd borrowed a cloak or a blanket before he left. A twig snapped under his feet and jabbed into the soft flesh. *Shoes would have been nice, too...* He reflected as he stopped to rub his throbbing foot.   
  
Within seconds he was on the chase again, but a new developement quickly held him back.  
"I'M SERIOUS, YOU GODDAMN WHORE!"  
Amitie's banchee wail echoed off the trees, and Micah winced. Well, if the ghoulies didn't know they were there before, they sure as hell did now! He froze and stood stalk still for a moment, the tiny hairs on the back of his neck rising. Micah listened, and strained his eyes to see any movement, but there was none. He waited still longer, and then finally let out a soft sigh of relief and started on his way again. He did not make it far.   
  
ZHHWING! THWAP!  
  
It was more of an instinct than an actual thought, but whatever it was, it caused Micah to jump back just in time to miss the arrow that would've hit his face.   
"SHIT!" He yelled, spinning around and yanking the slender weapon from the tree. "You bitches! I'm leaving already!" He cried, squinting to look at the arrow a bit closer. Suddenly, cold fear flooded through his body. He was no archery expert, but curiosity had given him cause to examine the arrows used by Calendae, Haldir and Naira. This arrow was not one of theirs. It was *nothing* like theirs!  
Micah spun around just as something hard and heavy made contact with his shoulder, knocking him down with a cry of pain. He slid backwards, grabbing the first weapon his hands touched: a big honking stick.   
  
He swung blindly in the dark, and felt it connect with a dull, squishy "whud." There was a low growl of anger, and the stick was wrenched form his hands, and he was sent sprawling across the forest floor again. This time, he jumped to his feet and threw himself on the thing, driven by some mannish desire to kill and destroy any and all threats to him and those he held dear. Amitie and Zoe, for instance, who walked merrily on ahead... Punches were thrown, and there was kicking, and clawing, and biting, and bitch-slapping, until finally, the monster (who was a lot bigger and stronger than Miach) seemed to get bored and tossed him aside like a crumpled paper cup. Micah leapt up, and made a run for it. He had to warn Amitie and Zoe! The... whatever it was... chased him, even though he tried to dodge around the trees like a rabbit or something, and soon he was caught again, and thrown head-first into a nearby tree. After this, the monster seemed to loose all interest with him, and continued on it's way... after Zoe and Amitie!   
  
He could just barely make out the thing, and it was big, and smelly, and fucking scary looking, but Micah couldn't let it sneak up on his girls! He struggled to his feet, grabbed aother big stick, and threw it boomerang-style at the monster, catching it in the head. It let out a howl of annoyance and spun on him, picking him up and throwing him a good eight yards into another tree, then coming after him. As the monster loomed above him, silhouetted on the moon. Micah tried to get up again, but again he was thrown back, his right keg crumpling beneath him. He closed his eyes and prayed he'd bought the girls some time. He hoped they'd suceed in whatever it was they were doing, and he hoped that Risa was okay, wherever she was. He'd miss them...   
  
ZHWING! THWUP!   
  
Micah lay limply at the base of the tree, staring in astonishment as the monster sank down to its knees, and then fell on its side, an arrow driven cleanly through the temples.   
  
Micah was hurt bad. His face throbbed, and it was nearly impossible to breath becasue of the pain in his chest. He'd probably broken a few ribs... or worse. But worst of all was the agony spreading through his leg, which he couldn't move below the knee. "Shit," He gasped, lacking even the energy to sit up and lean against the tree, or call for help, or anything. He just wanted to die and get it over with! He was vaguely aware that someone was coming, but he didn't care anymore. His mind was dulled and hazy, and he was seeing white spots in front of his eyes. Someone was kneeling next to him, and then he could hear cloth being torn as someone examined his injuries.  
"Fool! Taking on an orc, unarmed, alone, in the dark, in unfamiliar territory, inexperienced, exhausted, beaten and *barefoot*!"   
  
The battered teen raised his head with no little effort, and found himself staring at a familar face as if through a dense fog. "Haldir?"  
"You are lucky not to be dead or worse, Micah Hart!" The elf spat, but for a moment Micah was sure something else flickered in the clear blue eyes he was becoming rather fond of.  
"What could be much worse than this?" He gasped, allowing himself to be bandaged, wrapped, splinted, and otherwise attended to. "Be quiet."   
"But the girls... Amitie and Zoe..."   
"Naira will watch over them. Now be still!"   
"But--" His knee was jolted roughly back into place, and he grunted in annoyance.   
"I said be still!" Haldir commanded, and then rapidly finished his first aid treatment. The pain was a little better now... at least Micah could stand to be alive again. He sighed, and then he was being lifted, and carried away. He wasn't sure what his thoughts on being carried like a baby were, but given the circumstances, he thought it best to complain later. Besides, complaining took strength, which was something Micah seriously lacked at the moment. He sighed again, trying to find a way to breathe without wincing. "Thanks, Haldir. You really saved my ass."  
"I thought I told you to be quiet!" The elf barked like a drill seargent. Micah would've smiled if his face hadn't resembled an eggplant. 


	8. VIII

"Why?"  
"Because Sauron is evil."  
"Why?"  
"He's a minion of Morgorth."  
"Why?"  
"Because that is how it is."  
"Why?"  
"Because your ears are blue."  
"Well that's a pretty dumb reason to be a minion of Mor-- My ears are WHAT!?"  
Legolas smiled and shook his head as Margarita ran to the nearest fountain to examine her ears,   
which were not blue in the least.  
  
Aragorn had finally lost patience either with the girl (who, as time wore on, became increasingly chattier and chattier) or the absence of the Lord of Rivendell; and left in search of Elrond, who seemed to be purposely delaying his meeting with them. Not that Legolas could blame either of them. Although initially Margarita had been very dissoriented and childish, the more he talked with her, the calmer and more aware of herself she became.   
Legolas was not exactly sure how human girls of her age should behave, but he was near certain that she was getting very close.  
"HEY! My ears aren't blue, you asshole!" Margarita then returned from the fountain to her perch on the bench below him. She made a face up at him and then laughed, and he was again struck with the suspicion that something about her was very familiar. Something about the way she moved and the way she spoke, and symmetry of her face. It was very disturbing to him that he could not place the familiarities with anyone else.  
  
"Legolas?"  
"Mm?"  
"Where are we?"  
"Rivendell."  
"Oh." She stood up and wandered back to the fountain, leaning over and examining her face again, gingerly touching her swollen cheekbone with her fingertips. He watched her for a moment, and then turned his attention to the view that Aragorn had stared at for so long. It was indeed a lovely thing to look on, and there was silence on the balcony for several minutes. "Legolas?"  
"Hm?"   
"What's your family like?"   
"Big."   
"Really?"   
"Yes."   
"Oh. Do you miss them?"   
"Sometimes."   
"Do they miss you?"   
"I don't know."   
"Do th--"   
  
Legolas interrupted her, uneasy with the path the talk was taking. "Tell me about your family."  
"We're a lot like rabbits."   
Legolas glanced over at her, unsure of her meaning. "Like... rabbits?"  
"Well, maybe a little more like wolves in some respects, but mostly, like rabbits."  
He continues to stare at her in slight perplexity, but her face was serious and more than a little thoughtful. He waited, but she offered no explanations to her reasonings. "How do you mean?" He finally asked. She shrugged, not really paying attention to him anymore.   
"I can't really explain it, but some of us are like rabbits, and some of us are like wolves. I guess a few are deer, too. My brothers are the deer," she said as if from somewhere else, sitting on the bench again.  
"And which are you, Margarita? Rabbit, Deer or Wolf?"  
"Me? I'm neither. Mama and I are birds. Gramma said so. She was a bird, too, of course. "  
"Why are you birds?"  
  
Margarita shrugged again, and watched her feet swing below her, her hands braced on the bench.  
"My face hurts. Why does my face hurt?" She asked, evidentally ignoring his question.  
"You injured it."  
"Oh. Where are we?"  
Legolas sighed and began to wish Aragorn and Elrond would hurry up aleady. "In Rivendell, Margarita." Her head snapped up and she looked at him suspiciously, and then stood up abruptly, backing away.  
"Who the hell is Margarita?"  
He frowned. Now what was wrong? There was something seriously not right with the girl.  
"You're Margarita... that's your name."  
"My name's not Margarita! What the hell is wrong with you? No one calls me Margarita!" She paused for a moment, enraged. "*Especially* not you!" She broke off suddenly, and her eyes filled with tears. Her hands flew up to her face, and she began trembling once more. Legolas stared at her with concern, unsure of what to say.  
"Then what do you want me to call you?" He asked hesitently.  
"My name!" She wailed, and started to sob hysterically. He slipped lightly off the railing and slowly approached the distraught figure. But when he placed his hand on her shoulder, she hauled off and walloped him one across the jaw with her fist and made nimbly for the door.   
  
She didn't make it very far. Aragorn and Elrond chose that exact moment to appear, and the girl collided head-on with the former, sending them both sprawling to the ground in a tangle of limbs, curses, red braids and ratty grey cloak. Elrond stood quite still beside them, a strange expression on his face. The-Girl-Who-Was-Not-Margarita kicked Aragorn in the shin and leapt up, striking a feirce pose and looking ready for blood. Aragorn cursed and also leapt up, hand on his sword, and glared at the firey teenager before them. Legolas rubbed his jaw.   
There was silence.  
  
"She has a surprisingly strong arm," the fair elf finally remarked lightly. Aragorn buried his face in one hand and groaned and Elrond looked skyward as if for patience and sighed. The girl didn't still move, but her face was taking on the "dream-cloud" again.   
"Elrond?" She whispered, turning her misty gaze on the dark countenence behind her. All malice melted from her form, and her face broke into a huge, sunny grin. "Elrond!" She cried joyfully, and proceded to pounce on the Lord of Rivendell before he had time to react, and trap him in a tight, fierce hug. Elrond, for his part, did not move at all save for one eyebrow which slowly krept upwards.  
"Now do you believe me?" Aragorn questioned, giving the redhead a disdainful glance.  
"It would be hard to doubt you." Elrond replied, recovering enough to take the girl by the arms and gently remove her. She clung to his arm and positively beamed, yet she seemed oblivious to everyone and everything... including him.  
"I don't understand it. Just after you left, Aragorn, she started to act relatively normal. And then she became distraught when I called her Margarita... apparentally that is not her name at all!" Legolas explained, still rubbing his sore jaw. Who would've thought such a young woman could have such a fierce strength?  
"Her name is not Margarita. That I could have told you simply by looking at her." Elrond remarked.  
"Well, you weren't here to see her, now were you?" The younger elf said with a slight smile, ignoring the elder's reproving glance.   
  
"Have Frodo and Gandalf and the others arrived yet? That is why you called them all, right? Glorfindel should have brought the hobbits by now. Legolas and Aragorn are here, and Gloin and the dwarves should be here soon, too... and then you will have the council, and choose the Fellowship..."  
The three males stared at the girl in shock, unsure of what to say.  
"Frodo is the ring-bearer, the cormacolindor, and his friends Merry, Sam and Pippin represent the hobbits. Gandalf goes because he's the leader, and Aragorn and Boromir go for the men. Legolas goes for the elves, and Gimli is the dwarf! Got it?"  
"What in the name of Numenor is this girl speaking about?" Aragorn asked, and Legolas could only shake his head, confused. It made no sense! Gandalf had not left the Shire for nearly sixty years. He had no idea who or what Frodo was, or hobbits, either, for that matter. Glorfindel had fallen years before, and as for dwarves... he shuddered at the thought. Elrond regarded her with a curious look, and motioned for the others to be quiet.  
"Glorfindel is slain, child."   
"No! Not that Glorfindel! Glorfindel finds the hobbits after Frodo is injured by the Nazgul! He brings Frodo here!" She exclaimed, her face becoming by far more desperate than they'd seen yet. She tugged on Elrond's sleeve as if he must know what she was talking about.  
"Who is Frodo?" Aragorn asked gently.   
"Frodo! Frodo Baggins!"  
The three present shook their heads and the girl stomped her foot, casting them reproachful glares. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, but I know I'm right! You'll see! Glorfindel will bring the hobbits here, and Elrond, here, will choose the Fellowship of the Ring!"  
"The Ring?"  
"HOPELESS! BOYS ARE HOPELESS!" She wailed, wringing her hands and then running to the bench, where she threw herself down and sobbed quietly. Aragorn looked deeply troubled by her behavior, but Elrond did not seem surprised in the least.  
  
"Will she be alright?" Legolas asked eventually, wanting to comfort her but fearing further injury to his person. His jaw still throbbed, and he noticed Aragorn rubbing at his shin with his opposite foot, mouth set grimly.  
"I do not know. Galadriel told me of her coming, nearly sixty years ago. In truth, I expected an old woman, not a child. How long has she been with you?"  
"Only one day, my Lord. We found her singing in the treetops. Do you know who she is?" Aragorn questioned, leaning back against the arch of the doorway, still grim.  
"Her name is Risa. She is the grand-daughter of Celebêl--"  
"THAT'S IT!" Legolas exclaimed, leaping up and scaring the other males witless. Risa ignored them all. "What's 'it'?" Aragorn demanded, pretending that he'd not been startled in the least.  
"I knew I had seen her like somewhere before! I never thought to connect her to Celebêl!"  
"Who's Celebêl?" The man asked, but he was again ignored.  
"I didn't know she bore any children! No one has seen her for-- it must be centuries!"  
"It has been. Few know it, but she had a half-elven daughter, Elana, who is the mother of the child you see there, about to fall right off the railing to the river below." Elrond finished.  
  
Legolas spun around. Risa was indeed standing on the railing, leaning far out to catch butterfly who happened to be drifting by. He grabbed her around the waist and set her firmly back on the bench. She giggled. "Don't move." He commanded, and then turned his attention back to Elrond.  
"So now that we know who she is, why is she here?" Aragorn murmured.  
"That has yet to be revealed."  
"Then what are we to do with her until it is revealed?" Legolas asked with a deeply troubled expression, but then had to turn and catch Risa by the wrist as she attempted to wander away again. She made no struggle this time, but instead stood still beside him, a calm smile on her face. She lifted her other hand to his arm in a gesture of comfort. "Now we have but to wait." She sighed.   
  
*****  
  
It seemed as though they'd been walking for years and years and years. They tried briefly to stop for sleep several miles away from Lothlorien, but the forest was so strange, and they kept seeing things in the shadows that freaked them out, so they agreed to keep walking and maybe sleep by day or something. But now it was morning and neither one of them were tired in the least. So they walked.   
Zoe sighed. Although Amitie had blankets and a knife, they hadn't thought to grab any food on their way out. She also felt a little guilty, because she hadn't even thought about Micah until a few hours ago, and it was too late to turn back now. She hoped that he'd had the good sense to stay in Lothlorien and not come after them. Zoe frowned a bit in worry, but it couldn't be helped. She just hoped he was having a better time with Naira and Haldir than she and Amitie were having tromping through unfamiliar woods, tripping over every damn log that happened to be lying on the ground, and getting hit in the face with every damn branch in the forest.   
  
There was a buzzing in her ear, and she paused to shake her head wildly and beat at her hair like a maniac. And the mosquitoes. Don't forget the mosquitoes!  
"What the fuck do these damn things eat when there are no hott chicks around?" Amitie hissed, slapping at her arms with a fierce scowl.   
"How far ahead is that town?" Zoe whined.  
"I dunno. It shouldn't be too far now."  
"Where are we going again?"  
"Some damn place called Rivendell."  
"Do you even know how to get there?"  
"Damn you, Gingringer! Less bitching, more trudging!"  
  
That meant no. Zoe muttered a few choice things under her breath, but kept on steadily.  
Zoe now sported a grayish hooded cloak over her blanket, and was relieved to see that Amitie had leggings, boots, a tunic and a cloak in addition to her short, clinging dress. The grayish-green color of their clothing rendered them nearly invisible amongst the forest foliage, but still Zoe felt uneasy. Both she and Amitie stopped every few minutes and examined the forest around them closely, but there never seemed to be anything there.  
"Zoe, do you have the feeling you're being watched?"  
"So you've got the heebie-jeebies, too?" The blonde murmured quietly, again looking over her shoulder.   
"What the fuck does that mean?" the brunette demanded saltily. "Oh, never mind. Let's just keep going. It's probably nothing."  
"Yeah."  
  
*******  
  
Haldir stalked furiously back to Lothlorien, the injured mortal boy tucked safely from view under his cloak. He may have been tall, but he was luckily slender and did not weigh very much. That would have been the last straw. Broken ribs, dislocated leg, bruises, scratches, stab wounds, scrapes, sprains, bite marks… the young man looked as if he'd just fought an entire battle single-handedly! And for some reason, Haldir just couldn't get over the fact that he'd run into the forest in his bare feet! Why that bothered the elf, he had no idea, but it just sat in his already bewildered mind and burned, mercifully making it impossible to think of anything else.   
"In his bare feet! In his bare feet!" He muttered, taking the winding steps two and three at a time from years upon years of long practice, and reaching his desired destination in minutes.  
  
Calendae was perched half-outside the window, a far-away look on his serene face,  
or at least it had been serene until Haldir kicked open the door with such violent force that it swung wide and slammed into the wall behind it. Calendae jumped as if shot by an arrow, and slid quickly back into the room the moment he caught the ominous look on Haldir's face.  
"What has happened!" The younger elf asked anxiously, but his question was answered as  
Haldir threw back his cloak and gently laid the unconscious boy on the bed.  
Blatant confusion played on Calendae's face, and then he crossed his arms and and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What did you do to him, Haldir?"  
Haldir spun around, eyes blazing. "I saved his life! He went out after those girls, unarmed, alone, in the dark, and ran into an orc."  
"He fought an orc? I'm surprised he's still alive... did the orc steal his shoes, too?"  
Haldir sighed in exasperation and spun on his heal, leaving Micah in Calendae's care and dissapearing into the lightening green shadows of the forest. 


	9. IX

Amitie's eyes jolted open. It was getting dark again. She was curled up amongst the roots of a huge tree, in a pile of relatively yummy smelling leaves. She was warm, she was cozy... her stomache growled angrily. She was starving!  
"'Ey! Gingringer! Wake up!" she mumbled, sitting up and squinting in the falling darkness.  
"Mermph." Zoe mumbled, curled up like a cat a few leaf piles away, her rust-colored cloak covering her from head to toe, making her look like an abandoned blanket.   
"Dammit, Gingringer! Get up, you whore! It'a almost dark."  
"So hungry..."  
"Yeah, me too."  
"I knew we were forgetting something. Aside from Micah, that is."  
"Yeah. What are we gonna--"  
  
"I remembered food," a soft new voice said, right above their heads. Amitie and Zoe shrieked as one, flying out of their leaf piles and screaming some more. Zoe scooped up a handful of acorns and began pitching them back towards the tree, and Amitie grabbed a large stick, holding it like a baseball bat, ready to swing. "I knew we were being followed! Show yourself or risk my powerful, unforgiving wrath!" Zoe cried, grabbing more acorns. Anyone who knew Zoe knew two things: #1- don't touch her unless you move faster than she does, and #2- never try to scare her... unless you move faster than she does.   
There was a chuckle from the tree, and a shadowy, cloak-clad figure swung down from one of the raised roots. "I sincerely doubt your wrath is either powerful or unforgiving, Zoe."   
"NAIRA!" The relieved teens cried at once. Amitie wasn't sure whether to hit her or hug her.  
"You scared the shit out of us, you whore!" She yelled instead.  
"Dammit to shit to hell to baloney!"  
  
Naira laughed, and then stepped lightly up to them. Amitie and Zoe glared at her, but they were too thankful for her somewhat reassuring presence to be really angry."You said you have food?" Amitie asked then, and both she and Zoe drifted towards the pretty elf like vultures drawn to carrion. Naira laughed again. "Yes, I brought food! It's a good thing I followed you two! You'd have ended up starved!"  
"We *are* starving!" Zoe growled, and Naira laughed again, reaching for a small bag tied to her belt.   
  
"Let us eat, then. And then we'll start off for Rivendell. You've been traveling for two days in the wrong direction."   
"Dammit." Amitie cursed, and Zoe gave her an accusing glare. Naira just shook her head, and then stopped, her face becoming troubled. "What's up?" Zoe asked, eyeing the bag their companion still held in her hand. "I'm not sure... something feels... strange."  
Amitie looked around nervously. "Yeah..." Zoe whispered. Amitie shivered. She'd felt this feeling before....  
"SHIT!" She cried. We're going home!"  
"OH God..." Zoe moaned, turning slighty greenish as the tell-tale light appeared.  
  
"What is--" Naira's nervous words were cut short as they began flying upwards, and then falling just as fast. Strange as it may seem, Amitie was getting almost used to the violent way of travel. She wasn't even all that surprised when, as usual, she landed first. But they were in a very small space this time, and when Zoe landed on top of her, followed by Naira, they ended up crushed together in a tangled pile of limbs twisted at odd angles. "OUCH!" Zoe yelled.  
"Godammit!"  
"Who's leg is this?"  
"MINE!"  
"Oh, I'm sorry--"  
"Get your elbow out of my OUCH!"  
"Who does *this* belong to?"  
"Your MOM!"  
"On a stick?"  
"Where the hell are we *now*?"  
"Oooh.... my spine! I kinda need that, you know!"  
"I'll tell you where we are! Up my ass and around the corner, that's where we are!"  
"Amitie!"  
"Don't touch me there!"  
"It's not like I have a lot of options, you know!"  
Naira shrieked something in the bizarre language."Okay, just shut the fuck up, both of you! I think I found a doorknob!" Zoe growled.  
"My ears!"  
"OMPH!"  
  
The next thing Zoe knew, part of the wall gave way, and they sprawled out in a pile onto a floor. She blinked, attempting to untangle her arm from Naira's hair, and gazed around.   
"Oh my God!" she gasped, and the others were silent. They were in Risa's bedroom, but it looked as if a bomb had dropped in it. Her blinds and curtains were half ripped off of her windows, and the glass was cracked. Candles and photos, silk and real flowers, and other small objects were strewn about the room. The bedside table was knocked over, and posters had been ripped in half. Zoe glanced down and saw one of Risa's favorite Brad Pitt pictures, half shredded on the floor, and half of Heath Ledger's face.  
  
"She's dead or worse!" Zoe wailed, bursting into tears and clutching the torn photos to her chest.  
"She's in Rivendell, not dead, dammit!" Amitie hissed, looking around the room in dismay, and then picking up something from under the torn curtains. It was the book.  
"Let's go to my place. We need... provisions." The multi-colored haired girl said with the "Tank Girl" gleam in her eyes. "We need... what?" Naira asked, looking about as confused as they had the first time they'd gone between worlds. "Oh God save us now." Zoe murmured, looking skyward before she stood, helped Naira stand, and they left the destroyed bedroom.  
  
*****  
  
"Okay, I changed my mind. Here's the plan. Zoe, you go to your place. Change into some school clothes, but pack stuff you'll need for the trip in your backpack. Meet me and Naira at my place."  
Naira stared at Amitie questioningly, but Zoe nodded if she understood perfectly. She had no idea what was going on in Amitie's head, but she was the genius, so it probably wouldn't hurt to do as she said. It was darkish out, but the street lamps provided adequet light to see by. The town was quiet, save for a few passing cars, and nothing seemed to be open. A slight wind blew, swirling the snow around them. It was almost eerie.... Naira was staring about herself in wonder, and it occured to Zoe that the elf had probably never seen anything like Westingford before!   
  
"Sorry your first brush with our world has to be in Westingford," she said apologetically, sighing. "There are thousands of other towns a lot nicer than this." Naira didn't answer, but jumped violently as a car drove lazily down Main Street. "Monster!" She gasped, grabbing her bow and fitting an arrow in to it so quickly Zoe barely had time to grab them away.  
"No, no no! Don't shoot the cars!" Zoe cried. "Bad elf! Bad!"  
Naira gave her a strange look. "I think Naira's on the right track." Amitie grumbled as they waited for the car to pass from view, and then scurried across the street. They had no idea what time it was, and it wouldn't due to be seen and reported for breaking curfew. Once they got across, they parted ways. Zoe cast back one glance to see Amitie grab Naira by the arm and drag her away from a store window, and then hurried home. She was praying her parents were asleep. *That* was all she needed!  
  
She came in the front door and skipped down the few steps to the lower level, and then swept into her room, shutting the door silently. She glanced at the clock, then breathed a sigh of releif. They had tons of time! It was almost time for her to be getting up anyways, so she even had time for a shower if she hurried! She snapped into action. First, she grabbed her bookbag and dumped the contents on the floor, emptying every pocket and shoving it all into a drawer under her bed, and shutting it. Next, she scurried about the room, grabbing items she felt she'd need. Flashlight, batteries, pocket knife, pens and notebook, compass, two pairs of dry socks, a change of underwear, deoderant, and a few tubes of chapstick. Next she shucked off her elf clothes and hid them in the back of the closet, rolling up the grey cloak and laying it carefully in her backpack, and selected clothes for school. If she was reading Amitie's twisted mind right, they'd be leaving from school, so she'd better dress accordingly. She dug through her drawers and frowned. There wasn't much she owned that wasn't orange. And orange wasn't the best color to wear for stealth in the woods, even when one did have a camoflage-like cloak. She tossed a pair of jeans on her bed, and her light blue bell-sleeved sweater. Then she added an extra tee-shirt to her bag as an after thought, in case it got warm... or cold.   
  
Zoe rushed to the bathroom and took the fastest shower she'd ever taken in her life, and then raided the medicine cabinet. She left the room with a first-aid kit, soap, toothbrush, tooth paste, and her retainer, which she'd forgotten to put in that crazy night. Even if they were saving the world, it didn't mean she had to let her teeth get crooked again! She dropped everything in the bag, and then threw in her glasses case, contacts, and eye-drops for good measure. She got dressed, digging her pearlescent orange and black hiking boots out from under the bed, and ran upstairs to the kitchen.  
  
She had to get food before her parents and brother woke up! If she didn't there would be suspicion. Everyone knew she didn't eat at school! She grabbed a lunch bag that had been hers once, long ago, and threw in the staples of her existence: swiss-cheese crackers, a bag of bagels, and a few cans of orange soda. She tossed in a few nutrigrain bars and poptarts as an added bonus, and a few apples and oranges, as well. She filled a thermos with ice and water, and stowed it in her bag, tossing in a jar of peanut butter (not that she much cared for the stuff) and a jar of actual salted peanuts, and a few packs of popcorn (the non-microwavable kind).  
  
"Zoe? Is that you?"  
"Yeah, Mom!"  
"Up early today?"  
"Yeah... I, uh... promised to meet Amitie and Risa for library time."   
"Okay...?"  
Zoe felt she was forgetting something. She looked around the kitchen frantically, and her eyes stopped on the knife rack. Dare she? If there were a bag search at school she'd be dead, but... She grabbed a large, sharp chopping knife and slipped back to her room, where she emptied her bag again and re-packed it, wrapping the cloak around the knife and putting it in the bottom of the bag. She stood and grabbed her coat, lacing up her boots and swinging her bag onto her back. Then she stopped, turned, and dropped the bag, diving on her bed. She felt around madly beside it for a moment, and pulled out what she was looking for. She wrapped Cowie carefully in her pillowcase, stuffed her in the bag, and made a dash for the door.  
  
"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" She called, actually choking up a bit.  
"What's your deal?" Her little brother Noah asked blearily, staring down the steps at her as she pulled her hair back in a scrunchie.  
"Nothing, smart ass." She growled. "I'm leaving! I love you guys!"  
And with that, she ran out the door and made tracks to Amitie's.  
  
*******  
  
"Risa! Honey, it's time to get up!" Elana Farenel called from the small kitchen of the apartment over Farenel's resturaunt. Elana was a short woman, and, like her daughter, sported long, thick red hair. She had big blue eyes and wore glasses, and could usually be found busily working in the kitchen.  
She hummed a tune and flicked on the small radio by the sink, peering between the lace curtains of the window to see the sun hitting the store fronts across the way. She busily kneaded the bread dough before her, shaping it into a loaf and fitting it into a pan. Then she covered it with a clean dishcloth and started down the hallway to her daughter's bedroom. "It's going to be a sunny day, Risa! Get up or I'll sing!"  
She paused outside the door for a moment, wiping her hands on her apron. Usually Risa would've yelled or growled or thrown something at the door by now...  
  
"Risa? Sweetheart, are you sick?" Elana pushed the door slowly open, peering around the corner. Then she stopped, speechless for a moment.   
Risa wasn't in the room.  
The window was open, and snow was blowing everywhere. It looked as if there had been a horrible struggle. The woman stepped into the room and looked around in disbelief, then crossed the room and shut the window, lifting one of the torn curtains and sighing. "Oh, Risa..."   
Just then, the phone rang. Elana sighed again and left the room, vowing to straighten it later. She walked lightly to the livingroom, still shaking her head, and lifted the phone with a deceivingly cheerful "Hello?"  
  
The woman's voice on the other end was hysterical and obviously hadn't slept a wink all night with worry. "Well, no, Sheridan, I haven't seen Micah.... no, he's not here... Oh, Sheridan, how awful! Are you sure... well, no, she's not here right now... if I see him, I'll let you know right away... Sheridan, I'm sure it's nothing. You know how those children are... of course. Sheridan, try to get some rest. I'm sure he's fine. I'll keep an eye out for them. And if you need someone to watch Zane, the door's open... of course. It's no problem at all, I'll pick him up after school. No problem.... I'll talk to you later, Sheridan."  
Elana hung up the phone with a breath of relief. First Risa is missing, now Micah! Elana narrowed her eyes and glanced out the window, just in time to see Zoe Gingringer scurry down the sidewalk across the way towards East Avenue. Elana smiled suddenly, and shook her head. She knew exactly what had happened now. Leave it to her daughter to find that book, and have her friends with her when she did it! "You just be careful, Risa Louise Farenel!" She murmured, and then went back to the kitchen with a worried expression in her deep blue eyes.   
  
*******  
  
"It's... it's... *blue*!" Naira gasped, sitting and staring at her reflection in the huge round mirror before her. She was clad in a thin silken robe, rubbing at her wet tresses with a towel. Amitie stood behind her, tossing various articles of clothing from her closet to the bed. Amitie had a strange house. And an even stranger bedroom, which was painted to match a summer sky; clear and blue, with fluffy white clouds. As clear and blue as the streaks in Naira's hair, which she was now examining thoughtfully. "This will wash out, won't it?"   
"Er-- Blue is such a great color for you. Brings out your eyes and shit. Aha!"  
  
Naira sighed turned to see what Amitie had found. The girl was clad in the most bizzarre clothing the elf had ever seen. Bright purple tights and silver, opalescent boots covered her legs up to her blue and purple plaid skirt. Over this was a short white shirt with a butterfly on it, and rainbow suspenders adorned with what Amitie called safety pins. Her multi-tone hair was pulled into two high braids that looped over on themselves, and a thick red chain rested around her neck. Black sequined bands clasped at her wrists and elbows.   
"Here. I knew I still had this shit somewhere." The girl muttered, tossing two small, white garments at Naira, who caught them and examined one questioningly.  
"What is this?"  
"It's a bra. I can't take you to goddamn school without a bra."  
"What do I do with it?"  
"You *wear* it."  
"Oh." Naira examined the garment again. It looked more like an instrument of torture than apparel. "Where?"  
"Oh, for the love of--"  
  
It was at that moment a fearful pounding came from the lower level of the house. Naira dropped to a crouch and drew her knife, but Amitie merely rolled her eyes. "Oh, unclench your ass cheeks. It's probably just Gingringer." The girl sighed, leaving the room and clomping loudily down the twisting stairs.  
Naira replaced the knife and slowly stood. This world of theirs must have been a much safer place than Middle Earth, but then Naira thought back to the Cars, and wasn't so sure. What a strange place it was! The Cars seemed to be lurking everywhere. There were two dead ones outside of the girl's home, and in front of nearly every home around it, like some sort of grotesque trophy display.  
She sighed, walking to the bed and sifting through the pile of clothing there. She was very fond of Zoe and Amitie, that was for certain, but part of her felt very alone in their company. A vision of deep brown eyes, full of understanding, flashed through her mind, and Naria turned her head sharply. Certainly she was not lonely because she was away from him! Calendae meant nothing to her, she assured herself for what felt like the thousandth time. She was more than capable of living her life and having an adventure without him near. And yet...  
  
Naira's thoughts were interrupted as the door flew open and Amitie and Zoe entered.  
"Good God! What have you done to her hair!?" The latter gasped, and Naira turned an accusing stare to Amitie. "I mean, it looks good, but it's so... *blue*!"  
"Shut the fuck up. Do you have all your stuff?"  
"Of course. I brought food, too. Hope you like junk, because that's all I brought."  
"What's junk?" Naira asked innocently, earning odd glances from the teenagers before they glanced at each other. "Help me get her dressed. We're running out of time."  
"Just give her some jeans and a tee-shirt and let's go, then."  
"But that's no fun!"   
Zoe turned to Naira and put a hand on her shoulder. "I feel so sorry for you."  
Naira gave her a questioning look, but Amitie shooed the younger girl from the room, commanding her to 'raid the kitchen.' "Okay, let's see... put on this and this and this... and this."  
Several pieces of clothing came flying at her, and then Amitie grabbed several things from the small table before the mirror and made to leave the room.  
"Oh yeah. The damn bra goes on your chest. We'll be downstairs."  
And then the door shut and Naira was left alone.  
  
**  
  
"What are you making that poor girl wear?" Zoe demanded when Amitie met her in the kitchen. She was busily filling a small gym bag with cans of mandarin oranges and Lunchables pizza kits.  
"Nothing I'd be able to get away with." Amitie said forlornly, and Zoe shot her a *look*.   
Amitie opened the fridge and examined the contents.  
"We don't want her to stand out, Jamensen. Why are we taking her to school anyways?"  
"Because there's things we need at school."  
"Like what?" Zoe asked, adding some ramen noodles and instant rice kits.  
"Like those books Risa reads. We don't know the first thing about that Middle Earth or whatever the fuck place it is. " The girl grumbled, examining a jar of pickles before tossing it to Zoe. "Naira does." Zoe mumbled back, catching the pickles."Pickles?"  
"I like pickles."  
"Whatever. But we've got Naira. Why do we need books?"  
"Even Naira doesn't know everything. Besides, there are a few other things I want to do, too."  
"Like what?"  
"None of your goddamn business! But seriously. Think about it, Gingringer. We're gone all night, and then not one of us shows up for school? Micah's mom is hysterical. She's left like, twenty messages on the answering machine wailing about Micah being electrocuted. It's even on the radio. And you think Mama Farenel isn't going to be suspicious when she goes to try and get Risa up, and she's not there? With the room torn apart, the windows wide open and peices of Heath Ledger flying around like fucking ladybugs?"  
"Good point. I used to always wonder what was going on with the parents in all those anime flicks. I mean, you'd think Miaka's mom would get suspicious after a few weeks--"  
"What the hell are you talking about?"  
Never mind!" Zoe laughed, tossing some matches in the bag and zipping it up, then laying it next to her backpack with a clink.  
  
"Ready, girls?" A voice asked from the doorway. Zoe and Amitie turned, and then froze. Zoe stared and Amitie dropped the box of bisquit mix she was holding. "I did *not* dress her like *that*!"  
"Do you not like it?" Naira asked innocently, sounding a touch tearful. Naira looked fine. In fact, she looked fantastic. Which would be alright, except for the fact that they were trying for near invisibility (if there was such a thing with Amitie around). She was wearing very short cutoff denim shorts that had holes in them over a pair of black tights with seams up the back. She had apparently not liked the footwear selections, because she's opted to wear her leather shoes and calf guards with them. She wore a long-sleeved black fishnet top with her thumbs through the cuffs, and a necklace of huge metal balls.   
"No, no, you look fine." Zoe assured her.   
"Did I put the bra on right?"  
"Yes, yes, the bra is great," Amitie sighed.  
"I think I see now why they are so nessecary. If I weren't wearing this bra, I'd be indecent!" The elf exclaimed obliviously, gesturing to the lacey white undergarment which was blindingly visible through the black fishnet top.  
"Agh! Yes, yes, good, good!" Amitie cried, running into the other room to fetch a coat for her.  
"Naira, don't do that at school." Zoe whispered. "Do what? What did I do?" The elf asked as a silver vinyl jacket came sailing through the air towards her. "Amitie, does Risa know you have that?" Zoe asked as she handed Naira the gym bag. "Of course not. Now let's get the hell out of here before Dad comes downstairs."   
"Good call." Zoe agreed, lifting her back pack and ushering Naira out the door.  
  
*******  
It didn't take long for people to start noticing Naira. It started before they even reached the school, with a car full of football players who slammed on the brakes when she walked past.  
*"Damn gorgeous elves! Why couldn't we have run into some goddamn gnomes or something ugly?"* Amitie thought darkly as they made for the front door. "Okay, Naira, let's go over it one more time. What's your name?"  
"Nadia Sullivan. And I'm Zoe's second cousin by marriage."  
"Good. And why are you coming to FLB today?"  
"Because my family may be moving to Westingford and I'm considering receiving an education at this facility."  
"Close enough. And how old are you?"  
"One thousand seventy eight."   
Zoe slapped her forehead and Amitie groaned. "I mean, um, seventeen?"  
"*Good.*" Amitie bit her lip and sent a silent prayer upward as she pushed open the door, leading the other two to a hall moniter. Angela Masons. *Wonderful.*  
  
"We need a visitor's pass." Amitie said impatiently.  
"Why?" Angela hissed. "You know the rule. No passes unless---"  
"Hello." Naira cut in, and even Angela was put speechless for a moment. "I'm Nadia Sullivan. I'm Zoe's second cousin by marriage."  
"That's nice. But I can't give out passes to just an--"  
"My family may be moving to Westingford within the season, and I was considering receiving and education at this school at that time." Naira smiled sweetly.   
"Oh." Angela said, looking dissapointed. She sighed heavily, glared at Amitie and Zoe, and began filling out the pass form. "How old are you?"  
"Seventeen."  
"And where are you form?"  
"The Golden Wood."  
  
Angela looked up, but Zoe cut in quickly. "It's in Florida." She said hurriedly, snatching the signed pass from Angela, clipping it to the elf's jacket, and pushing her away down the hall. "That was close!" Zoe breathed after a few moments, suddenly aware that Naira was receiving stares from all over the hallway. Even teachers were looking! Naira seemed oblivious and bent on examining everything they passed. Exit signs and fire extinguishers in particular fascinated her.  
"Okay. We need to get to the library before first period. If we don't make it, we'll just have to fake it through first period best we can."  
"You're kidding! I'll have to face chem one alone with "Nadia" here and Angela Masons!"  
"Then we better make it, huh?" Amitie teased as they jumped the two steps to the back lobby and made for the back hall. There was a sharp gasp from Naira, and they froze, turning in alarm.   
"They're beautiful!" the elf cried, running up and then stopping just short of touching the objects of her adoration: the vending machines.   
"Oh my fucking God!" Amitie groaned, clinching her fists and throwing her head back.  
"I've never seen anything like them! They're so bright! So vibrant! Like the light of the new dawn in the first leaves of spring!" The chick was gonna start crying if they didn't do something soon! "They don't have vending machines at her school." Zoe embarrasedly said to some passerby, who were watching Naira with great confusion.  
"Here, I'll buy you a fucking candy bar!" Amitie hissed, pulling some coins from her bra and dropping them into the machine. "What do you want?"  
"Want?"  
"Fine. Twix it is." Amitie hit the little button, grabbed the candy, and shoved it in Naira's clasped hands, then grabbing her by the arm and dragging her away.  
"That was smooth." Zoe muttered, but Amitie was still fuming. It wasn't really Naira's fault that she was there and had never seen these things before, but she certainly wasn't making their mission any easier!  
  
"Library!" Amitie announced, and the trio slipped quietly into the room and shut the door behind them. You really weren't supposed to have school bags in the library, but they were always willing to do a bit of forgetting when time was short. Still, Ms. Primrose could be unforgiving, and Risa wasn't there to pull their fat out of the flames, so they scurried silently past her to the proper section, and Amitie began taking books off the shelves. "That the hell is a hobbit?" She asked as she handed said book to Zoe, who tucked it away in Amitie's yellow backpack. "Beats me." She murmured. Naira said nothing, but looked on with interest.  
"Is that everything?" Zoe whispered. Amitie nodded, and they snuck quickly back out the way they came. "Now, what were those other things you wanted to do?" Zoe asked. She checked the clock. 7:48. They were running out of time. Amitie stopped cold in front of locker 344, opening it and rummaging around inside. "Two things. First, I wanted to get Legsy out of Risa's locker. I'm sure she misses him."  
"No contest there. And after that?" Zoe asked, rolling her eyes and grabbing the wooden box where Risa's doll rested with his equipment (no puns intended!).   
"We need some sort of protection."  
"I've got a knife," Zoe whispered quietly, leaning in to Amitie's ear and glancing around nervously. "Oooh! A *knife*! Yeah, that'll keep us safe." Amitie hissed back. A knife!  
"Then what the hell do you have in mind?" The blonde demanded.  
  
Amitie froze in front of the auditorium doors and smiled, pulling her companions in and locking the door behind them. "What was the name of the play advanced theatre did last semester?" She asked in the tone of someone already certain of the answer. "Hamlet. Same as every semester." Zoe said with confusion as they made their way on stage and back to the prop room. "Damn straight. And what did we use in Hamlet?"  
"Swords!" Naira breathed, running ahead and lifting one of the weapons, examining it closely as an expert would."Ahh! Amitie, you're a genius!" Zoe cried, running and lifting a spear that the guards had used. "So I've been told," Amitie answered, smiling. She used to always think Mr. Mason (no relation to Angela) was crazy for using "real" weapons in the productions. Sure, they looked pretty in the lights, and the made great battle noise, but trusting FLB students with sharp objects? Real bright. But now said weapondry was so handy, she just couldn't thank the man enough and made a mental note to bake him some muffins when they got back for good. If they got back for good...  
  
"Hey, Naira, can you use these?" Zoe asked, tossing her a quiver full of arrows from an old Robin Hood production. Naira looked at them and shrugged. "Mine are much better made, but I suppose it never hurts to have spares." She slung the quiver over her back and continued examining the swords.  
"I think I'll take this spear. It'll make a great walking stick. Not to mention I can stab things with it." Zoe decided.   
"Take these three. They're the best of the lot." Naira said, handing them each a sword and tying one to her belt loop by the scabbard. "Is this thing operational?" Amitie asked, lifting a cross bow from a wooden crate. Naira took it, loaded a dart-like arrow, and hit the mechanism. The little arrow sped across the space and imbedded itself on a dress-maker's dummy that was clad in a Victorian-esque cream gown. "Yes." Naira said, handing it back to Amitie, who got a dangerous smile.  
"Okay, that's a little freaky. All this shit about 'no tolerance', and we've got operational cross-bows *in* the freakin' school?" Zoe mumbled in disbelief, unpacking her bag, grabbing her cloak, and repacking it neatly in two minutes flat.  
"You should join the Army. Damn! I didn't think to grab the cloaks!" Amitie sighed.  
"I did." Naira smiled, pulling two out of her bag.  
"Naira, you rule! Are we ready now?" Amitie asked, swinging the cloak to her back and digging the book from her own bag. "I think that--" Zoe started, but was interrupted by Naira's sharp signal. The elf krept forward lightly, paused, and then grabbed a figure from the darkness, holding a fancy dagger to their throat and pulling them roughly forward.  
  
"Spy!" she hissed.   
"I knew it!" The figure whimpered. "I knew you were up to no good! You two and this Nadia!"  
Amitie groaned. "Kirsten?" The tall, snobby girl, one of Angela's cronies, gave them an ugly scowl. "And me!" Angela cried, coming out from the same spot and giving Naira and edgy look. The elf gave a fake move, and the girl squealed, running over towards the cloak-wearing teens.   
"Nair-- Nadia, do you have to be quite so... violent about it?" Zoe sighed. "Violent?" The elf questioned, batting her eyes innocently. "This isn't violent. Violent would have been riddling her body with arrows, hanging her from the rafters and leaving her to slowly die from loss of blood." She teased. Amitie wasn't so sure she was joking. Kirsten paled, but Zoe laughed. "Oh, fine. Let her go!" Naira gave Kirsten a threatening look, but released her.  
  
"We're going to tell Mr. Rathers you're stealing!" Angela said, trying to sound important. "You're probably going to kill us all! I always knew you and your friends were like, so way unbalanced!" Kirsten chimed in. "Yeah." Angela agreed. "And you've got bad fashion sense, too!"  
"You know, you said the same thing to Risa when she wore leather pants last year." Zoe said uninterestedly. Both girls (who were indeed wearing leather-look alike pants) turned an unflattering shade of red, and Kirsten looked ready to cry. "Yeah, but we're still so way smarter than you!"  
"Only because we helped you cheat through seventh grade. Oh, and you still cheat now, don't you?" Zoe retorted. There were few she hated more than preppies. Especially these preppies. Angela glared at her. Zoe smiled. "C'mon, let's go get the vice-principal! He'll put these losers in their place!" Angela sulked.  
Amitie sighed. She hated when negotiations between the CPC and the preppies got so strained. She just *hated* having to prove how much smarter they really were than the other group. She also hated having to resort to bullyism. "Nadia, grab 'em." She sighed, walking to a set of prop lockers they'd used the year before in Grease and opening one. Naira shrugged and grabbed each girl by the arm before they could escape. "Hey! you can't treat us like this! We're your betters!" Angela protested, but Kirsten just sniffled and whimpered a little. Amitie sighed again and gestured to the locker. Naira nodded and crammed them both in, and Zoe shut the door and clicked the lock. "Let us out! You'll never get away with this!" Angela cried. "Our friends will, like, so rescue us!" Kirsten whined.   
"Provided someone thinks to come back here today."  
"We'll yell!"  
"The Audi and stage are sound-proofed. Have fun." Amitie laughed. "We should've gagged them first."  
"This is for all those times you put other people down!" Zoe said self-contentedly.  
  
"Are we quite ready now?" Amitie asked. "To do what?" Naira questioned.  
"Go back to Middle Earth."   
"YES!" The elf cried. "Hurry up! Go faster!"  
Zoe laughed. "Let's try for Rivendell or whatever."  
"How do we do that?"  
"Find a page with Rivendell on it."  
"Earth to Zoe! Funky language! Zero comprehension!"  
"Oh, give me the book!" Naira demanded, taking it and flipping through the pages. "Here! Rivendell."  
She said, pointing to some runic writing on an intricate map.  
"It's worth a try."  
"Bye, Kirsten! See ya later, Angela!"  
"I hate you! I hate you! I will make your lives hell!" Angela screeched.  
"Too late." Amitie muttered. With that, they placed their hands in the book, and dissapeared into the light, heading back for Middle Earth.  
  
****** In the Cafeteria: Lunchtime. Preppie Table. *******  
  
"Hey, like, has anyone seen Angela or Kirsten today?"  
"Not since, like, this morning."  
"Bitches! Skipping and totally not, like, telling us!"  
"Seriously."  
"So, like, who wants to go to the Pag, dammit, I mean the Gap, like, after school?" 


	10. X

Legolas stretched his legs out before him and sighed, resting his head on one arm and staring up at the fading stars above. It had been an... eventful night, to say the least. Risa had gone down to bed easily enough, bathing and dressing with no arguments and laying down as if to sleep. Two hours later, however, she woke up shrieking about the end of the world and pieces of Heath Ledger, whoever that was. None of her attendents could calm her, and eventually she took off screaming through the palace, much to Aragorn's annoyance. This went on well past midnight. Elrond finally caught her and carried her back to her room, quieting her sufficiently and soothing her back to sleep. Legolas supposed it was paternal instinct. Aragorn and Elrond then went off to some secret room to talk over various things which Legolas cared little about. Unfortunately, they were still gone when Risa's troubled dreams awoke her again.  
He had little to no paternal instinct, which did not make it easy to calm the trembling girl. Catching her was simple enough. His long legs could outstride her easily, although the flying leap need to tackle her to the ground was a bit unsettling. The bite marks on his arm should heal without scarring.   
  
By the time Elrond and his foster son returned, Legolas was so exhausted he could hardly lift his finger to his lips to signal for silence, and then gesture to the sleeping form in the crook of his arm. Eventually, he would have to move, and she would wake up, possibly screaming, but Legolas didn't care. It was Aragorn's turn to deal with her.  
  
*******  
  
"He'll be fine. The injuries he sustained are serious, but not *too* serious." Calendae said calmly. They stood at the foot of the bed, looking down on the sleeping mortal teenager. So he would live. That was some consolation to Haldir, who still couldn't explain why he was so concerned to begin with. For a few days, Micah's fate had been in a grey zone. Sometimes it looked as though he would surely die; others, that he would wake up within the hour. But the burning fever left his body, and the bruises began to fade slowly away. Soon his green eyes would open, and he would be well for certain. Haldir nearly smiled at the thought, but caught himself barely in time. The tall elf scowled to mask his thoughts. It probably didn't work, but that was alright. Calendae wouldn't say anything. He had his own worries to wrestle with.  
  
"No word from them?" Haldir asked softly, and the frown that flashed over Calendae's young face was enough of an answer. "It's been almost a week." He sighed, brown eyes drifting downward.   
"She may be impudent and tempersome, but there is wisdom in her... somewhere. She'll be back alright." Haldir assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. The pair left the dim room and walked slowly along in the growing sunlight. "She's never been away alone. I fear for her."  
"She's not alone. Amitie and Zoe know more than they let on. They'll take care of each other."  
"I'm sure they will, but still. We've never been apart so long. We've been together since childhood." Haldir bowed his head for a moment, and smiled suddenly. "Calendae, I think you need to decide on something before you worry over Naira."  
"And what would that be?"  
"Is it she who will suffer the more from this seperation, or you?"  
Calendae stopped, staring straight ahead, a toubled look on his face.  
"Naira will come back." Haldir assured him again, and then walked quietly away.  
"Yes," Calendae whispered, his eyes filling with tears. "But will she come back to me?"  
  
*******  
  
Birds. Birds were singing somehwere nearby, and the sun was in her face, making her vision behind her closed eyelids golden and bright. The air smelled clean and fresh, like tropical spices. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled silently, and opened her eyes languidly. It was Risa's favorite kind of morning, and she was content to spend it in one of her favorite ways: lying warm and cozy in bed, without a care to the world. She stretched her toes, and let her eyes drift along the intricate leaf pattern in the wall, trailing up to the sheer curatins pulled back to the head of the bed, and finally stopping on the beautiful inlaid mural of fair maidens and young men dancing and frolicking around two trees. Risa frowned suddenly. There were no murals in her room! Or sheer curtains, for that matter....  
  
The girl sat up swiftly, half-undone red braids and touseled curls falling everywhere. What day was it? She couldn't remember. In fact, everything in the past seemed to be in a bit of a grey haze. Her name was Risa, she was sure of that. And this wasn't her room. Of that she was certain, too. But what her room looked like, or where it was, for that matter, she didn't know. Her vision blurred suddenly, and there was a feirce buzzing in her ears. A face flashed before her, a face she should know, of a pretty girl with blue eyes and blonde hair. But the girl was screaming in terror, and the sound was deafening to Risa. Fire seemed to leap up from everywhere around her at once, and more screams echoed from far and near.   
"Go away!" Risa whimpered, clapping her hands over her ears and shutting her eyes. But the images were impossble to shut out. Another girl was there, with rainbow-streaked hair, and a boy with familar green eyes. And they were crying and terrified. She could feel their fear in every part of her body. As burning and icy as putting your warm hand on frozen steel in the winter. "No! Go away!"  
"RISA!"" The blonde girl screamed. "RISA! HELP US!"  
"I can't help you! Don't you see that? I can't!"  
"RISA!" The other girl added. "RISA! PLEASE!" The boy cried.  
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Risa yelled, and in a flash, she was sitting back in the bed, with the sun shining and the birds singing. She blinked, and then slid down from the bed and padded to the window. It was sunny and bright and warm and beautiful out. The leaves on the trees were full and green, and flowers bloomed everywhere, and said birds and butterflies flitted about merrily. A day like this called for some serious frolicking! Risa grinned, grabbed a convienent shawl that was laying nearby, and took off out the nearest door, not quite sure of the way to the great outdoors. Well, she'd just keep running the way she was going. Buildings had to end sometime, you know!  
  
She'd been running for maybe thirty seconds when someone came out of a doorway just in front of her. She tried to stop, but her feet caught the edge of a fancy woven carpet.  
"LOOK OUT!" She yelled as she collided with the grey-cloaked figure. He turned his head just as she made contact, and they both went flying to the ground in completely indignified sprawls.  
"Omigod! I am *so* sorry!" Risa exclaimed as soon as she and the carpet had come to a complete stop. "Are you okay?" The man gave her pretty mean look considering she'd just apologized for the obvious accident.   
"I'm fine." He said roughly, jumping to his feet before she could help him up and stalking off down the hall. Pity he was such an ass; the guy was kinda cute. "I'm okay, too, thanks for asking!" She bellowed after him, and then stood and stalked off as well, leaving the carpet in a rumpled pile in the middle of the hallway.  
  
*******  
  
He was forty-eight feet above the forest floor. He knew this, because he'd climbed this old tree so many times, the hieght seemed permantently imprinted on his mind. When he was a young child, he'd believed that no troubles could reach you above the earth. He'd climbed many trees in his life; and mountians, too, but he'd yet to reach a place where troubles could not follow. Now he knew that no such place or elevation existed for earth-bound beings. But still, he climbed his tree, and it usually gave him comfort.  
  
Not so today. Haldir's words had not left the young elf's mind since they'd been spoken. Calendae loved Naira with all of his being. He would do anything for her, and she knew it. Before she'd gone out after the girls, he'd made her promise to send word as soon as they reached Rivendell, which surely they had by now. And yet no message came, no clue, no sign of her saftey. It was driving him mad. Naira said she loved him, and yet she seemed bent on making every aspect of his life Hell on Earth, as the mortal girls would say. How long would she continue playing these games? Didn't she realize how much she hurt him?  
There had been a time when their love was pure bliss. But now... Naira had told him she wanted to go on this journey on her own, simply to prove that she could, that she was strong enough, if for no one but herself. And so, against his better judgement, he'd let her go, and promised not to follow. He hated himself for it. Calendae sighed. He would wait. If no word came in two more days, he would go to Rivendell. But for now, he would wait, and pray to Illuvatar that his wife and her companions had come to no misfortune.  
  
*******  
  
Micah sighed and rolled over, and immeadiately wished he hadn't. Every breath he took felt as if someone was driving a knife into his ribcage. It also felt as thought someone had hit him in the sternum with a sledge hammer. Repeatedly. His face felt swollen and strange, like when the dentist gives you novacaine before he pulls a tooth or gives you a filling. His legs ached, and his arms hurt. He wanted to lift his hands, to examine them, but the blankets they rested on were cool and soft feeling, and he lacked the strength to move. So he flopped over again to lay on his back, and became simply a pair of ears, listening, because it hurt his eyes to keep them open, even in the warm, greenish gold light from the windows.  
  
This was how he knew when someone came into the room. At first he thought it was Zoe or Risa, because of their light steps. It couldn't have been Amitie, who loved to make her presence known by tromping about like she owned the world in her big clumpy boots. After a minute, he knew it wasn't Risa, because she hadn't tripped over anything or run into anything yet. He would've heard that for sure. Risa was quite vocal about her klutziness. That left Zoe. But something in his mind told him that it was not Zoe in the room. He wanted to hold his breath, but if he did, they'd know he wasn't sleeping. Micah wasn't sure why, but he wanted them to think he was sleeping! The person just stood there for a long, long time, and didn't say anything. Micah was just about to die from curiosity and peek when he felt something brush gently across his cheek, like a bird was flying by and swooped just close enough to graze him with a silken wing.  
He froze.   
  
"I don't know what you've done to me, you bizarre human boy, but I can only hope you'll awaken to us again soon. There are so many things I want to know..." A familiar voice said softly and somewhat sadly, and Micah felt goosebumps rise on his arms. He dare not move, and now he couldn't have forced himself to breathe if his life depended on it ( wait a minute...). He waited, and waited, and waited, and finally, the curiosity was just too much, and his eyes flew open. He found himself staring up into a pair of blue eyes that he would've known anywhere in the world, that were too close to his face to be just casually watching him. He froze, unsure of how to procede, and so did Haldir, the being who's eyes Micah reconized, which had now widened in shock.  
Neither one of them moved, but a deep blush rose in Haldir's cheeks as Micah's jaw dropped a little.   
Now what!?   
  
******  
  
Risa wandered calmly around the palace, examining anything and everything she came into contact with. She was among the elves, she knew now. But that rude man in the hallway had been no elf! Of course, neither was she, but that was beside the point. She, Risa Farenel, was in an Elven castle, with free run of the place! This was not an oppurtunity she was about to pass up! She wandered for maybe an hour or two, until she finally reached a wide balcony that overlooked a breath-taking valley. She let out a girly squeal and ran to the railing, leaning out and looking as far as she could, trying to memorize it all. When she was done looking at the view, she examined the balcony itself. Little benches awere scattered about with potted trees and plants and flowers, and a small fountian glittered near the doorway like tiny falling diamonds. On one of the little benches, about three yards away, was propped a very beautiful wooden bow with intricate filigree work all along it's length. Beside it lay an equally charming quiver, and for Risa's imagination, it was just too tanatlizing.   
  
She walked slowly over to the items, glancing around to see if anyone was about, and then lifted the bow gently with both hands. She drew the bow string as she'd seen her brothers do ages ago in 4-H archery, and let it go with a satisfying "TWANG!" She quickly dropped her arm to her side and looked over her shoulder again, afraid that someone may have witnessed her trangression. The balcony was still. Nothing moved but an occasional bird and the water in the fountain. She stood still for a few moments, and her gaze fell to the quiver, full of finely crafted arrows with golden feathered ends wound with silver wires.   
  
She glanced to the right and the left again, and then lost all caution. She swung the quiver to her back and jumped up on the railing so that her entire view of the valley was unobscured, and then drew an arrow and notched it to the bow as lightening quick as any Hollywood Robin Hood. She drew the bow and brought her face down low to her arm, lost in her new game. "Behold! I am Legolas Greenleaf, Son of Thranduil, and prince of the Mirkwood elves! I shall guard our ringbearer, Frodo, and the rest of the Fellowship with my archery skill on our perilous journey to Mordor to save all of Middle Earth from certian doom and unadultered evil!" She announced in a dramatic voice.  
  
"That sounds nice and safe." A voice behind her answered, and Risa was so startled that her grip on the bow string faltered and the arrow went flying into an adjoining wall, hitting one of the elfin statues cleanly between the eyes. Risa hid the bow quickly behind her back and blushed beet red, shaking her stinging arm, which had been caught by the bowstring. The tall blond elf leaning in the doorway raised a brow at her, looking as if he was trying hard not to laugh.   
Risa sighed. She never failed to get herself into these situations! 


	11. XI

According to Haldir, they had just left the borders of the Golden Wood.   
Micah sighed. It had only been a few days, but his condition had improved rapidly, and the night before, Galadriel had summoned Haldir and charged him with escorting Micah to Rivendell. Why Micah was needed in Rivendell, apparentally neither of them knew, but Haldir couldn't exactly flat out refuse, and so they went. Calendae had given them a large supply of different herbals teas and treatments to administer to him along the way; charms that should be spoken, etc., etc., and Micah was feeling more than a little bit high at the moment. If Jimi Hendrix popped out from behind a tree and started singing Highway Chil', Micah wouldn't have been the least surprised.  
  
They walked along in silence, Haldir stalking crossly up ahead, only speaking now and then to bark an order such as "Don't step in that bottomless pit" and the like.  
After the embarrassing incident in the bedroom, the tall elf had become quiet and very impatient with everyone... especially Micah. Micah wasn't exactly sure why, but it kind of made him like Haldir even more. There was something so attractive about a furious, blushing elf. It was getting very boring walking along, staring at trees, more trees, clones of trees, clones of clones of trees, and then the clones of the clones of the clones of trees. He sighed again and fidgeted with his tunic-shirt. "So, Haldir... is this Rivendell place nice?"   
  
There was no answer from the blonde ahead. Micah resisted the urge to scowl. Fine. If Haldir wanted to go on and be a surly old insecure-with-his-sexuality big tough manly elf, he could go right on ahead and do so. Micah was certain that there were any number of elves out there who weren't half as difficult to be around, or as homophobic. He glared his very best hateful glare at the back of the elf's head, and began running over all of the evil names he would call him if Haldir wasn't a lot older, taller, faster, stronger, and better armed than he was.   
  
"Stop glaring at me, Micah, and be careful going over that fallen tree."  
"Get the stick out of your ass, you immortal prick," Micah mumbled under his breath, minding himself as he cleared the log. Haldir froze in front of him.   
"What did you say?" He asked lowly, dangerously. Micah promptly slammed on the brakes and stood still. He cursed himself in his mind. Someday, he would have to remind himself that elves have supernatural hearing *before* he hurled insults at them. Micah comptemplated letting it go with a "nothing, Haldir," but then decided against it. If Haldir was going to be a pouty middle schooler about this, well, then Micah could be an all out asshole.   
"I said, 'get the stick out of your ass, you immortal prick.' Why, didn't you hear me? I could always say it again, and louder." He squared his shoulders off in the most intimidating stance he could manage. It probably wasn't much, but he could try, dammit! Haldir slowly turned to face him, blue eyes blazing. Okay, maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all... Well, he was on a roll now. Why stop at that? Besides, he was pissed. He liked Haldir, and it was extremely irritating to him that the elf couldn't just come out and admit the same.  
"Don't ever say that to me again, or I'll abandon you on this very spot with no regrets whatsoever." Haldir threatened. "No you wouldn't." Micah replied confidentally, crossing his arms over his chest.  
"What would stop me? I guarantee that I could be well clear of this place before you could follow me."  
"Yeah, you probably could, but you won't."   
"Is that a challenge?"  
"No, not really. I just know that you wouldn't leave me here for the same reason you followed me out of Lorien and saved me from that monster, took me back to Calendae, and almost kissed me." Haldir turned a very omnious shade of crimson, and his eyes started to snap like blue lightening. Micah was almost positive he could smell wood burning... "Well, seeing's how that's all you have to say on the subject, I'll be going now." Micah announced, dissapointed in the elf's lack of response. He spun on his heel and strode off into the foliage. He was certian that Haldir would follow him. It would only be a matter of time.  
  
***  
  
Haldir felt his anger nearly boil over as the infuriating mortal boy walked off confidently into the forest shadows. What right had that frail being, little more than an infant in elf years, to say such things to him? If the human boy wanted to have things this way, that was more than fine with Haldir. He would be more than happy to return to Lothlorien and leave him here in the forest, injured and alone, more than likely prey to the next orc patrol or goblin party or troll or pack of wolves who came through, or to fall victim to starvation, or infection, or enchantment, or... Haldir sighed, cursed, and started after him. It wasn't, he assured himself, because he was worried about Micah's fate in any way. It was purely because Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel had charged him with guarding the teen and escorting him safely on to Rivendell. Haldir took orders from his Lord and Lady very seriously, and he wasn't about to stop that trend now. Besides, Micah would be nearing the river very soon, and--  
  
*"SPLASH!"*  
  
-- Haldir sighed, pitching off his bow, quiver and cloak, and diving into the river. This was not turning out to be an ideal journey. By the time he surfaced, Micah was already treading water and looking wet, miserable, and really very angry. Haldir quickly swam over to him and caught his arm, but was pushed away. "I... knew y-you'd f-follow me!" Micah sputtered.  
Haldir sighed in exasperation. "Silence!"  
"Will you quit saying that? God, when you get mad, tell people to shut it and they'll respond better."  
"Tell them to--" Haldir paused to take a breath and calm himself, and to flip the wet hair out of his face. "Would you rather I blundered off into the forest like an angry child?"  
"Better that than stomping around scowling because I can't admit that I'm attracted to someone!"  
"At least I don't fly off without thinking about consequences!"  
"Well, I don't run around hiding behind my bow and arrows and stalking after people because I'm too embarrassed to just go up to them and offer my help!"  
"You did the very same thing!"  
"I was trying to catch up with my friends to protect them!"  
"And I was going to catch up with you and do the same!" Haldir stopped in mid speak. The boy had got him right into a corner! Micah slowly began to grin. "There, now don't you feel better?"  
"No, I don't!" Haldir retorted hotly, then sighed. "If I do or do not want to admit something, that's my business!"  
"Even if the other person feels the same way?"  
"Especially if the other person feels the same way!" He yelled. He stopped. He scowled, then he sighed.   
  
They were getting nowhere with fighting, and he was beginning to get cold. Micah was still treading water directly opposite him, also soaked, glare both defiant, accusing and hurt. "Micah... why don't we just get out of this river and continue arguing once I've built a fire?" Micah glared at him with a little more anger, and then appeared to accept the elf's reasonings. "Fine. But I want to get one thing straight right now." The boy announced firmly.  
"And what is that?" Haldir questioned half-sarcastically, annoyed with the feeling of wet cloth on his back. "This," Micah replied, grabbed him, kissed him soundly and then headed for the river bank. Haldir stood motionless for a few moments, speechless and shocked.  
"What was that supposed to prove!?" He finally yelled after the retreating youth, who gave no answer.  
"Micah!" He bellowed.  
"It proves that you're just being a--" Micah never finished his sentence, because he either slipped or found a deep spot and dissapeared benath the water. Haldir cursed, swam after him, dove under, and dragged him up by his shirt back.  
"Being a what?" He demanded as the boy sputtered and tried to push him away by the shoulders.  
"It just proves--" Micahs started, pausing to spit river water from his mouth, and catch his breath, "That you're being a--"   
  
He was interrupted again, but this time by a new voice that came out to them from the riverbank above.   
"Oh. My. God." they both stopped and turned to look up, and beheld Amitie, Naira, and Zoe, who had spoken, standing in a row on the bank and staring at them with shocked expressions, faces dazed. "I knew it! I *knew* it!" Amitie then yelled, laughing hysterically.  
"Haldir..." Naira chuckled.  
"Shut it, Naira." He replied, and found a small amount of comfort in her completely shocked expression.  
  
  
*****  
  
Risa continued to stare at the blonde elf male in complete humiliation. It was one thing to be wildly imaginative outloud when you were alone, but it was quite another to be wildly imaginative outloud when there was someone else around. Especially when that someone else doesn't know you very well. Or at all, for that matter. She bit her lower lip nervously and tried to plot the best course of action. Maybe if she didn't answer and just stood very, very still, the elf would loose interest and go merrily on his way...  
  
After a few moments, it became apparent that he wasn't going to forget she was standing there, no matter how quiet and still she was. Damn, and it worked so well on Jurassic Park!  
"You seem to be recovering from whatever ailed you, Lady Risa."  
She blinked at him, and then her embarrassed flush faded and she stared at him in a mixture of confusion and non-amusement. "Lady? No. As far as I can tell, I am Risa. But I am not a lady. In any sense of the word." The elf seemed to accept this readily enough, but something about the way he lifted his eyebrows told her that he did not beleive her. "You admire the bow?" He asked, smiling faintly.  
"Yeah, it's really pretty." Risa muttered in reply, resisting the urge to blush again.   
"You should be careful with it. You nearly took the skin off your arm," he warned.  
  
Risa set the said bow down quickly on the bench, and the quiver with it. The elf walked lightly and calmly onto the veranda-like area and settled on another bench across from her. "How did you get to Middle Earth? And where did you come from?"  
*Well, he gets right to the point.* Risa thought with narrowed eyes and a sigh. "I don't know how I got here, Mister Elf. And as to where I came from, that should be obvious. I'm from We--" Risa stopped. Her mind had gone blank. "West..." She paused a moment more, frowning. Well, wherever she was from, it wasn't here. "Damn. I don't remember! That's probably not a good thing." She admitted, sighing and flopping down dejectedly on the bench beside the archery equipment and looking up at the elf regretfully.  
"You're probably correct in that assumption, " The elf agreed gently, resting his forearms on his knees, staring at her sympathetically. Risa frowned and fidgeted for a moment, reaching up and unbraiding one of the many destroyed braids in her hair while she looked nervously at the elf. He was pretty hott, that was for certain. Not just hott, but beautiful. And he seemed nice enough. He kind looked how Risa had always imagined Legolas to look, just as her Grampa had carved Legsy for her, ages ago. She frowned. Who or what was Legsy? She felt that this mysterious object was important to her somehow, but she couldn't remember why! The hott elf was watching her with a mixture of concern and amusement in his bronze-grey eyes. Risa dropped her braid.   
"So.... these yours?" she asked, tossing her head at the bow and arrows. The elf nodded. "They were a gift."  
"Oh, wow. That's cool. This is Imladris, right?" The elf nodded again. "How long have I been here?"  
"Just over a fortnight."  
"Oh! Oh, wow... Gods, I don't remember coming here at all--"  
  
"I do," interrupted another voice drily. Risa and the elf turned to find that tall, scruffy-cute guy Risa had knocked into in the hall leaning in the doorway. "You!" Risa accused hotly, jumping to her feet. The elf looked from man to girl and back again suspiciously. The man rolled his eyes slightly and went to the balcony railing, peering over to the valley below. "The least you could have done was asked if I was alright! You didn't even do that, you male-chauvenist pig! You just growled at me and stomped off!" Risa yelled sharply, and earned herself one surpised look and one irritated glare.   
"You ran into me," The man said slowly, then turned back to the valley.  
"Did I miss an event of importantce?" The elf asked pertubedly. Risa was just about to explain about the carpet in the hallway when the tall man spoke.  
  
"Ah, right on time..." Risa and the elf rushed to the balcony railing and looked over. There was a small group making their way up the winding mountain path and acrost an intricate bridge. Three girls and two guys, Risa quickly counted. She stared at two of the girls, one a brunette and the other a blonde, and one of the boys, who had short, dark hair. She began to feel very dizzy.  
"It'a Haldir, and Naira. But who are the other three?" Her elf friend wondered outloud. Risa felt herself grow very light-headed, and her lungs started to burn. She grabbed the sides of her head with her hands and gasped. "Oh, no! They're in trouble! We have to stop them! Make them stop! We have to..."  
"Risa?" The man asked, concerned. She didn't even have time to be surprised, though, because those horrible dreams were coming back, and she suddenly reconized the three young people down there. She fell forward and landed heavily on her knees. "Go get Elrond!" The elf commanded, but he man was already halfway to the door and running fast. "It's alright, Risa..."  
"No! they're walking right into it! Tell them to stop! Tell them to--" She scrambled up and pull herself upright on the railing, breathing heavily and fighting off nausea. It was too late. Two black riders had appeared on the bridge, barring the way of the five travelers. Seven appeared behind, and the travelers bunched into a tight knot. She could see swords and bows drawn, but it was no use.  
"Ringwraiths!" Her friend hissed. Almost simultaneuosly, an attack call was sounded, but Risa knew it was too late. She started crying helplessly, and the elf wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. "You're safe, Risa..."  
"No! B-but, it's Zoe, and Amitie, and, and M-micah..." She whispered. "Oh Gods, we've got t-to save them...!" The riders had grabbed her friends, saw the other two travelers on the ground, and the riders were thundering off, carrying her friends, and the elf warriors were following, but not succeeding in catching them. "Risa," The elf echoed, but the sound was distant. She felt her body sway, and then everything went black. 


	12. XII

Zoe blinked open her eyes just long enough to realize that she was being carried rather roughly by someone on horseback. She felt hazy and dizzy and not at all like staying concious. Her eyes filled with tears. They'd been so close. So close to Rivendell, and seeing Risa, and possibly getting themselves out of this great tangled mess. And Rivendell had looked like a pretty cool place to recouperate after their stressful three-day journey and the meeting of the guys in the river. Zoe swallowed a gasp as she remembered Naira falling and not getting back up, and Haldir doing the same. Were the two elves... were they... could they be...? It was getting foggy and dim again. Zoe didn't even know if Micah and Amitie where with her now. Maybe, she thought as her hands went somewhat limp and Cowie, who'd she'd been carrying for comfort on the bridge, slipped out of her fingers and fell beneath the horse's hooves, Maybe, someone will come after us. Maybe the others are okay, and maybe we won't die. Then she closed her eyes.  
  
*******  
  
"HOW DID THEY DO IT?! HOW DID THEY MAKE IT AS FAR AS THE BRIDGE? THE BRIDGE!" The lord of Rivendell thundered for about the eigth time in thirty seconds. Aragorn had rarely seen the majestic being in such a rage. Of course, given the circumstances, he would have been more suprised if Elrond hadn't been storming about with fire in his eyes, shaking a sword and spitting random curses. He glanced sideways at Legolas, who had just put the unconcious Risa in her chamber and was shutting the door behind him. He returned the glance and raised his eyebrows a bit. Neither spoke.  
"With all the wards I've created, all the spells, the walls, the enchantments to keep their kind away from this place! How did they make it past! This is a disaster! The very safety of Rivendell is in serious doubt, our last true haven, aside from Lothlorien, in danger!"  
Aragorn didn't know what to say. Legolas was also at a loss. The truth was, no one had caught even a wiff of evil in or near Rivendell before the ringwraiths appeared, not even Haldir and Naira. It was unnerving. Who knew what could be lurking around, and in these questionable times... and ringwraiths, yet. The appearance of the black riders could only mean one thing. The One Ring had been found, and far worse, it had something to do with Risa and her companions. So there'd been truth in her inane babblings after all.... perhaps the girl did know something they didn't.  
  
"What are we to do about the other children? They're obviously Risa's companions," Legolas murmured, breaking his train of thought as Elrond continued pacing and thrashing at the air with his blade, growling his fury at the top of his lungs.  
"What has that to do with us?" Aragorn muttered back, and was in turn nearly razed to the ground by the glare Legolas sent his way. He sighed. "What do you suggest we do about it? We don't know where they've been taken. We don't know why they've been taken. We don't even know if they live still-"  
"Don't say such things. The riders would have killed them without pause were their deaths iminent. It's a miracle they left Haldir and Naira with the living."  
  
He couldn't contest that, for it was true. "Than that means Sauron himself must have want of them,"  
"That also means they've been taken to Mordor," Legolas agreed.  
"And that, my friend, is a very bad thing," Aragorn finished levelly.  
"Then we now know our course," Legolas said desicively, turning to leave the room and then stopping where he stood. "Aragorn..." he whispered, and Aragorn turned. The door to Risa's chamber was open. Suddenly, he was aware that Elrond had stopped his ranting. He turned again, and saw the elder male watching something intently over the side of the balcony. Then he heard the faint pounding of horses' hooves. Legolas uttered a rather potent curse and left the room. Aragorn exchanged a look with Elrond, and then sighed, and followed suite.  
  
*****  
  
Risa had never ridden a horse before. Actually, she'd always had a bit of an unrational fear of them. They were so big, and so unpredictable, and so strong, and so fast. But now, she clung to the mane of the smallish grey mare she'd stolen from Rivendell, ducking her head only slightly to avoid the branches lashing at her face. It was hard to watch the ground, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference, anyway. Risa knew very well that she was a horrible tracker. I probably couldn't find a school bus in a yugo dealership, she thought grimly, clenching her eyes shut and ducking as she headed for yet another leafy tree limb.  
She wasn't even sure where she was going, except that the bastards who abducted those other kids   
--the blonde and the brunette and the guy from those nightmares-- had taken off the same way.  
They could've turned, her mind grumbled. They could have backtracked, and I'd be none the wiser. They could be anywhere. Rohan, Isengard, Fangorn... hell, they could be in the Shire smoking pipe weed in the middle of a bloody field, and I'd never find them. Risa never stopped to think that it had only been a matter of hours since the abduction, and no one could have spanned Middle Earth quite that fast, possibly a few wizards excepting. She was still thinking these grim thoughts when the horse encountered a fallen tree in the path. Now the horse, whose name was Wilwarin, was an elven-trained horse, than therefore used to carrying members of the the elven race, who were quite good riders. It never occured to Wilwarin as she jumped the log, that her current rider may not be so experienced.   
  
Risa shrieked as she soared from the horse's back, flying through the air with a sensation not unlike dejavous, and then landing hard on her stomach a few yards away. The handle of her kifed knife was jabbing uncomfortably at her side.  
"Ooooh," she groaned, wrapping her arms around her ribs and willing the air to re-enter her lungs. Wilwarin had stopped and came trotting back, tossing her mane with something like amusement and nosing at Risa to get back up. Risa merely whimpered pitifully, and then braced her arms to attempt to rise. She had made it to her knees when she stopped, as if some cold snap had spread through the forest fast enough to freeze her solid. There was something lying just in front of her, something shatteringly familiar, even though it appeared to be no more than a tattered grey rag laying by the path-side. She reached out and lifted it, touching the remains of a cheerful face with her fingertips. Something in her mind clicked, like someone hitting a light switch, and she frowned. "Cowie...?" she whispered, and then hugged the toy tight and started crying. How in the name of all things Holy was she ever going to find her friends? They'd been carried off by the nazgul, she realized now. And that meant they were being taken to Mordor. Risa surpressed a shiver. Mordor... that very name had always managed to make her frightened, even while safe in her own world. And now she had to go there, to somehow save the Colored Pencil Club. She grimaced in frustration. God, this is like something out of a bad comic book, she thought dismally, sitting on her knees and dropping Cowie to her lap. Wilwarin tossed her head and neighed impatiently.  
  
"Alright, alright, I'm going," Risa grumbled, making to stand, and as she did, she saw something fall out of one of Cowie's many rips and land in the dry leaves below. She stared down in perplexity for a moment or two, and then bent over and brushed the leaves out of her way, then gaping at the object in complete horror for a full five minutes. As if in slowmo, she reached down and picked the object up, turning it over in her hand. A ring. A small, plain, golden ring.   
  
"Oh, shit."   
  
  
******  
  
Amitie was first aware of herself again as she was falling through the darkness, and then slammed into a cold, damp stone floor. Predictably, Micah landed on top of her, and then Zoe landed on top of him.  
"Dammit!" Amitie hissed, pushing the others off and sitting up, rubbing her throbbing skull. "I am going to have severe permanent brain damage before this fucking quest is over," she announced to no one in particular.  
"Where are we?" Zoe asked in a frightened whisper, shading her eyes and peering upwards at the ominous-looking red light above. Far above. They had to be at least twenty feet down in this damn hole, maybe more. Not good. "I dunno," Amitie answered, crouching over Micah, who was out cold. "Well, he's breathing. That's something," She sighed, patting his forehead gently and then pulling his head into her lap.   
"Amitie?"  
"Hm,?"  
"Where is the... you know, the..."  
"I hid it. Do you have Cowie?" She saw Zoe's curls bounce as the girl shook her head. "No, I dropped her when we were riding." The younger girl scooted backwards and sat next to her, casting a nervous look into the shadows around them.  
  
Amitie's lips curved upwards in a small, slightly ironic smile. "Well, then, they're killing us for nothing. Because we don't have it anymore." Zoe gave her a strange look and looked as if she was going to speak, but then both of their attention was drawn away as something flashed by in the shadows, and a sound somewhat like a growl echoed somewhere around them. "What the hell was that?" Amitie hissed nervously, and she grabbed Zoe's hand. 


	13. XIII

Risa wasn't exactly certain forever afterwards how she got into Mordor with so little trouble. Once she'd reached what she was certain to be the border, a desolate, black-looking country, she'd hugged Wilwarin and thanked her for her service, draped her somewhat tattered shawl over the mare, and told her to go back to Rivendell, as something told her her elf-friend would be more than a little angry at her. And that guy in grey, as well. Then she'd set off, sneaking in the shadows, which was no mean feat. After all, she'd torn out of Rivendell in nothing more than a shimmery, silvery chemise-like garment, some essentially useless little slippers, the shawl, and a greenish-brown cloak she'd lifted from the stables. Her only weapon was the knife, which she'd originally found near her bed. She suspected it belonged to her elf-friend. And her greatest burden was that damn ring. How it had gotten into Cowie in the first place, she didn't know, but she had a few suspicions, and none of them were pleasent. She just had to find the other three, and somehow get all of their asses out of Mordor, preferably alive and in one piece. The only problem was she had no idea where to look.   
  
Why had it been so easy to get in? Shouldn't she have run into something by now? Orcs? Dragons? Goblins? A balrog, perhaps? Shelob, even, though she shivered at the thought. I have a very bad feeling about this, she thought for about the thousandth time, continuing her sliding gait in the shadows. At least there were a lot of shadows.  
  
*****  
  
So this is it, Zoe thought dismally, staring blankly at the blackness in front of her. Amitie was sitting close beside here, glaring somewhere to the left. Micah was still essentially unconcious, but he kept mumbling inane things and begging for Haldir. If only the elves were here, Zoe's thoughts continued. Somehow, some way, I'm sure they could get us the hell out of this pit. But sadly, the last she'd seen of Haldir and Naira, they'd been either knocked out or dead. She hoped only knocked out.   
Another one of the freaky growling-noises echoed from somewhere, and Zoe shivered. She didn't know what was down there with them, but it didn't sound too pleasent. She just hoped it was big enough and kind enough to snap necks quickly. She sincerely doubted it. Zoe knew it was pretty much hopeless. They were going to die. She'd imagined fires, car accidents, school shootings, cancer, plane crashes, drive-bys, food poisoning, murder, all sorts of various death scenarios, but never had she ever imagined this. Only a miracle can save us now, she admitted silently, getting ready to break into tears and bawl on Amitie. And then, as if by some answered prayer, she got her wish. A rope fell from above and landed squarely in front of her with a "plop."   
  
Zoe blinked a few times, hardly believeing her eyes. She reached out and touched the rope gingerly, then gasped. It was real! She blinked again and rubbed her eyes, and then tilted her head back to see where this mysterious and much-needed rope had come from. There was definitely a figure kneeling at the edge of the pit, grinning and waving. She looked like an elf, but it wasn't Naira. Of course, in that funky red light, her hair could have been any color, but somehow... Zoe gasped. But it couldn't be... could it?  
"Risa!" Zoe yelled, jumping up so fast she knocked Amitie over in her haste.  
"Shhh!" Her friend called back. "Hurry up and climb out! We have to get out of here!"  
"Micah's zonked!"  
"Then wake him up, or tie him to the rope, just hurry!"   
Zoe nodded and Amitie sprang into action, and, in a few seconds that took an eternity, the three captives were sprawled at the top of the pit, exhausted.  
  
"Risa! How did you find us!" Zoe cried, hugging her friend tight. Risa looked alright. Her braids had come loose and her hair fell in tangled waves everywhere, and she was smudged in dirt and her pretty dress was torn, but she looked alright.   
"Farnz! You're not crazy!" Amitie cried, also hugging her. Risa grinned faintly.  
"It come and goes... literally. Now let's try and get away from this awful place before it comes again!"  
"Aw, Farenel!" Micah mumbled, hugging her, too.  
"Oh, guys, I thought I'd never find you! But we gotta get out of here," Risa said, sounding suspiciously teary. Amitie nodded. "Right. Let's go," Micah said, and they all started off, following Risa's lead, keeping to the multiple shadows and walking as quietly as possible.  
  
They didn't get far.  
  
"What the hell!" Amitie shrieked, for she was the first to see them.   
"Orcs," Risa said with no little fear, and as if with one mind, they all started running. Zoe had never been so terrified. There were thses really freaky, zombie-ish monsters everywhere they went, shouting at them in a very scary language, chasing them and popping out in front of them and beside them, and they all three just kept running and running and running as fast as they could, Amitie was swearing, Micah was silent, Risa was swinging a rather mean-looking knife she'd got from somewhere, and Zoe was on the verge of crying. All she knew was she wanted to get away from this awful place and never return. She was so busy thinking, she didn't even stop running until Amitie shouted a warning and grabbed the back of her cloak, pulling her backwards before she could fall forward.  
  
"Lovely," Micah said drily behind her as the four stood stalk-still and stared down. They were on some sort of cliff above what appeared to be a lake of fire, like in hell or something. It was not a heartening sight.  
"I think we lost the orcs, " Amitie said breathlessly, turning to look behind. She froze, and her face went completely horrified. "R-Risa!" She gasped in a fearful whisper, reaching around to tug on the redhead's cloak. Zoe turned too, and felt her stomach drop to her feet. Micah was standing stiff as a board, his skin ghostly white. Then Risa turned, too, and Zoe thought she was going to pass out for a moment.  
  
They're the ones who kidnapped us! Zoe grabbed Micah's arm and stood in mute terror. Nine of them, she realized by quick count. Tall and clad in black, with wicked-looking blades drawn, advancing on them.  
Risa was the only one who didn't seem to be afraid anymore, in sharp contrast to the moments before. Instead, she seemed grimly triumphant as she stood and backed up, closer and closer to the edge of the cliff and the churning molten rock below.  
"Risa! Watch out!" Zoe shrieked, but Risa didn't seem to listen. She pulled something out from under her cloak and held it in her hand, something small and grey...  
"I love you guys, " Risa said softly, smiling at them while they watched her in complete disbeleif.   
"I want you to run as fast as you can. Head west, if you can find the way. Don't stop until you reach Minas Tirith. You'll know it by the tall, white towers, and the silver pennants. Good people live there, and I'm sure they'll help you get to Rivendell. elrond will protect you, there. Don't think, just run. Goodbye."  
And with that, and a glare at the black riders, she spread her arms, closed her eyes, and stepped backwards, falling from view over the edge of the cliff.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Zoe yelled, only vaguely aware that Micah was holding her back. "NOOO! RISA!" She shrieked, and started sobbing as Micah and Amitie dragged her back and away, and the riders let out a shrill, ghostly chorus of hisses and shrieks.   
"Risa!!!" She sobbed again, just as she got a familiar feeling in her chest, a slight tingling of the hairs on the back of her head.... there was a sound like a huge clap of thunder, and she was enveloped in a soothing white light, and began spinning into oblivion. 


	14. XIV

Risa held her breath as she began to fall. Oh, Gods, let it be quick, she prayed, shutting her eyes, wrapping her arms around Cowie and squeezing tight, waiting, hoping that the burning of the lava wouldn't be too painful, hoping that the others would get out okay, hoping.... just hoping. There was a sound like a hundred fireworks expolding, and she began shaking, spinning and flying about like a piece of newspaper caught in a hurricane. There was a roaring sound in her ears, and violent heat in her face, and a sudden light blinded her. Then, mercifully, it all went black.  
  
*****  
  
The first thing Risa realized upon awakening was just that-- she was awakening. Wherever she was, it was shiningly, pristinely white. She was lying comfortably on a warm,white tile floor. The ceiling above was white, the walls were white, the light fixtures, the lamps, the doors, the moldings, were all white. Even the light was white.  
  
And she was most assuredly alive. She sat up, still hugging Cowie, and blinked around herself in astonishment. It was so beautiful here! So comforting after Mordor and falling into the lake of fire! Risa felt so safe she wanted to cry. She was about to when there was another brilliant flash of light, and another and another as people began to materialize around her-- Zoe and Micah and Amitie, her elf friend, The Guy in Grey, two more elves, one another blond male, one a female with blue-streaked hair, and yet another blond male elf. They were all blinking like she had and staring around in amazement like she was.  
  
"RISA!" Her three friends cried as one, running and jumping and landing on top of her in an ungainly pile. "OOMPH!" She replied, knocked to the ground grinning and buried in buddies.  
"What is happening here?" the Guy in Grey demanded, drawing his sword.   
"Naira!" The last blond elf cried, rushing over and grabbing the blue-haired chick and spinning her around. She laughed and hugged him tight. "Calendae! I missed you so!" She responded before kissing him. He grinned and spun her around again.  
"Haldir! You're alive, too!" Micah yelled, and practically tackling the second blond elf guy, who blushed but looked relieved and ecstatic, if you can imagine that particular expression. Risa laughed as she hugged both Amitie and Zoe at once. Micah's victim looked about to cry. When she looked up, her elf-friend was standing over the three girls, glaring down at her. She stopped smiling and swallowed nervously.   
Damn, I knew he wouldn't be happy! To her complete surprise he grabbed her arm and pulled her up into a rib-cracking embrace. "I was so frightened for you! Don't you ever run off like that again!" He admonished, while Risa fought her shock and tried to breathe.  
"Oh, that's nothing," Zoe said furiously. "We got to see her jump off a cliff into a river of molten lava!"  
"YOU WHAT!?" The elf yelled, and Risa winced.   
"Well, you see, it was like this--"  
  
Risa was about to explain when she fell silent, her face freezing with emotion. She had just caught sight of a figure over her friend's shoulder. A very familar figure. She wasn't very tall, really, but she was delicate and slender. Her face was heart-breakingly lovely, set with wide blue eyes fringed in gold. Her hair, a cascade of sunshine-gold, fell over her shoulders and drifted to her waist. Her hands were clasped before her, and her gown was spun of the finest silver thread, and floated around her like her hair. Risa knew that face, although it had been lined and wrinkled with age the last time she saw it. And the woman's figure had been bent and sunken, but her eyes had been the same summer-sky blue, and she'd had the same radient, loving smile. Risa had no doubts. It had to be!  
"GRAMMA!" She cried, and ran up, throwing her arms around the woman and bawling like an infant.  
The rest of the group stood silently, some a bit unnerved, but some, like Zoe and Amitie, blinking back their own tears and grinning so hard their faces seemed ready to break.   
"Lady Celebêl?" Her friend said in mild awe, and all the elves present stared in humbled shock and deep respect. Her Gramma nodded her head once and smoothed back Risa's hair.  
  
"I thought I told you to stay out of trouble, little girl," she accused gently.   
"Gramma! You're dead!" Risa accused right back, suddenly feeling somewhat cheated and very put-out.  
Celebêl laughed. "Of course I am, little girl," she agreed, and then laughed again, turning her attention to everyone else present.  
"I wish to apologize to you all. The book that I had written, that my granddaughter so predictably stumbled upon, should never have been created."  
"You mean this damn thing?" Amitie grumbled, pulling the very book from her bag.  
"Yes, Amitie. That damn thing," Celebêl agreed with a nod. The teens were somewhat unsettled to hear someone who was obviously revered as a goddess or something speak so normally. Especially in Middle Earth.   
"Why?" Zoe asked all her questions in one word.  
  
The beautiful woman got a very far-away look suddenly, and became consdierably less-cheerful than before. "Let it just be said that Risa comes by her rotten luck honestly. It was a dream I had, long ago, that I recorded, not knowing my own powers. I should have destroyed it, but I hadn't the will. But now," she said, taking the book from Amitie, "I do. And everything will be put as it should have been. Everything will go back as it was before, these events you all endured dissapearing from both history and personal memory, because they will never have happened." She stopped speaking, and Risa was certain that her Gramma was dismayed at her failure to predict the group's reactions to such a promise. Micah was staring at her like a little kid who's icecream just fell off the cone and landed on the sidewalk. His companion, close at his side, bore a similar expression. Her elf-friend looked as stricken as stricken can be, and the Guy in Grey looked pretty peeved in general. Of course, he'd looked like that whole time anyways. The elven lovers were clinging to each other and staring pleadingly at her Gramma. Only Amitie and Zoe looked remotely happy, but even they seemed dissapointed.  
  
Risa glanced back at her new friend and their eyes locked momentarily. She felt a wave of enormous sorrow and turned back to her Gramma, pleading in her eyes.  
"The memory of... all of it?"  
"Yes, sweetheart. All of it."  
"Even.... even seeing you?" She added in a quiet whisper. Celebêl's face softened. "I'm afraid so, my darling girl."  
Risa felt her chin tremble. Then she glared at her Gramma, crossed her arms over her chest, and spun on her heel, seething. It wasn't fair! True, it wasn't as if she really wanted to remember being insane, and trekking through Mordor, thinking the CPC was dead, and least of all falling into a volcano. But there had been good times, too! Talking with her elf-friend, being in that palace, saving her pals. Risa wanted to scream. She finally got her Gramma back, after so many tears and so much wishing, and now she wouldn't even remember it!   
  
Celebêl heaved a deep sigh. "Well, perhaps.... perhaps I can leave you the memories you've made--"  
Everyone cheered and Risa bounded back into her Gramma's arms. Pouting, Risa thought smugly. Beating down grandparent's defenses for countless eons. She grinned again.   
"But you must speak of them to no one! These events will not have existed to anyone except those of you here, in this room, and myself. If one of you disobeys, you all shall be visited of my wrath!"  
"And her wrath is considerable," Risa added. Amitie, Zoe and Micah nodded vigorously in agreement. They well remembered the science experiment that had blown up Risa's Gramma's hollyhocks that one summer, and Celebêl's wrath had been visited upon them... in force.  
"Well then, I'll leave you to your goodbyes. Then it will be back to your respective times and worlds,"  
"Will we ever see each other again?" Micah asked in a small voice. Celebêl smiled gently at him.  
"That remains to be seen," she said. Everyone was getting depressed again. People turned to their private good-byes. Her friend was waiting for her.  
  
"Gramma," Risa started shakily. "I know I didn't get to say it before, but... I love you, and goodbye," She said, tears spilling over. She hugged the delicate woman again, and her Gramma hugged her back.  
"I know, Little Girl. I love you too. Be careful, take care of yourself. I'm sure that this isn't the last time we'll meet. Kiss your mother for me. And for God's sake, be good!"  
Risa laughed and nodded. "I will, Gramma."  
"Goodbye, darling girl," Celebêl said, and then faded into a white light.   
Risa turned around and buried her face in her elf friend's shoulder and started sobbing. He seemed a bit surprised, to say the least. Amitie and Zoe were saying goodbye to the blue-haired chick and her lover-boy. Micah and his elf-guy were saying their own goodbyes in a corner a bit away from everyone else, and Risa was left with her two new friends.   
  
She hugged the Guy in Grey, hugged the elf, hugged the guy again, and then hugged the elf again. Then she hugged them both at once. "Thank you guys so much for taking care of me! And rescuing me from the tree. I remember now... but I feel bad. I don't even know your names."  
"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn," the Guy in Grey said. Risa grinned. Of course! It made sense to her, now that she thought about it. Other odd scraps of memory were starting to come back to her...  
"I'm sorry I was so weird to you, Aragorn," Risa apologized again. Aragorn shrugged and looked uncomfortable. "No apologies required."  
"Have fun with Arwen," Risa whispered next to him, winking and laughing when he gave her a shocked look. She turned to her elf-friend then, although she now had a suspicion who he was now.  
"Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil?" She asked, feeling a mad blush coming on.  
"Prince of the Mirkwood elves," he finished with a laugh, and Risa moaned and buried her face in her hands, remembering her escapades on the balcony. "Oh, man..." The elf laughed again.  
"Risa..." he said then, turning serious. But Risa suddenly felt a strange feeling start at her tummy and work its way up. She heard her friends start to call out goodbyes to their friends. Micah was positively clinging to his elf, but it was all for nothing. Risa reached out and grabbed Legolas's sleeve, and then she was sucked into the tunnel of light, twisting and flying her way back to Westingford, back to Fort LeBison, and her mother, and play practice, after-school stops at Lou's On the Sidewalk, canoeing in the creek, sleepovers at Amitie's, games of tag in the park, and all the good times and places she and her friends had shared and knew. Their adventure, such as it had been, was over. 


	15. XV: An Ending

***** EPILOGUE*****  
  
"--and so I wish you luck, Fort LeBison class of 2002, in all you see, and in all you do. Godspeed!" The graduates whipped off their caps and flung them into the air with a joyous cry. The band in the back of the gymnasium struck up a cheerful march, and altogether, the noise was a bit deafening. In the west bleachers, Risa, Zoe, and Micah leapt to their feet and cheered wildly as Amitie, below in her white graduate's gown, turned and waved at them ecstatically before they all four rushed into the crowd, making their ways to each other.   
  
It had been five months since their adventure in January. Things had been a bit strange after their initial return to Westingford (considering they'd landed on Fallane, one of their classmates, and had a bit of explaining to do). Risa was faced with repairing her bedroom and moving officially into her Gramma's old house, Micah with coming up with some story for his mother, Amitie with fixing the jacuzzi (which had been damaged somewhow during her flight) and Zoe with trying to tell her parents where their best carbon-blade chopping knife had dissapeared off to.  
They all expected to be whisked back to Middle Earth at any time, and their adventure had been a private topic amongst themselves, especially at sleepovers, when it was very late and all the lights were out.  
  
Risa pushed through the crowd, brushing away her hair, which she'd cut to her jaw after finding the tangles wouldn't come out. She finally gave up and stood on a chair.  
"AMITIE!" She bellowed, waving her left arm, to which she'd tied the bit of cloth she'd torn from Legolas's sleeve. Zoe jumped up on the chair with her, waving what was left of poor Cowie's arm at Amitie. Micah then tried to join them, as well, but space proved too limited, and all three of the brand-new seniors and one ragged toy cow went tumbling down and landed on their graduated friend.  
"Oh, man! I can't believe I fucking did it!" Amitie laughed as they all lay sprawled on the gym floor. The crowd moved around them, completely ignoring them. There was much giggling and laughing and silliness before Zoe sighed, hugging Cowie to her chest. "It all seems to final. I just can't believe that it's all over!"  
"I know what you mean," Micah added softly, his eyes getting that far-away, dreamy look they often got when he thought of Haldir. Risa sighed and hugged his arm. "It is strange. I wonder sometimes if they miss us as much as we miss them," She murmured with a glance at her make-shift bracelet.  
"I'm sure they do," Zoe agreed.  
"Oh, listen to you guys. You're so fucking depressing! I, for one, don't believe that this is the end of anything, except for maybe my indentured service to this goddamn school!"  
Everyone laughed as Amitie's dad showed up and snapped a picture of them lying in a heap on the floor.   
"Ya think?" Risa asked, pushing up on her elbow and looking at Amitie frankly.  
Amitie pretended to glare at her. "Am I or am I not a genius?"  
  
Everyone groaned while Amitie laughed hysterically. Then she held out her hand. "Colored Pencil Club forever?" Zoe reached out and grabbed her hand, shaking her head in mild disbelief. Risa and Micah reached out in unison. "This ain't the end, hookers. This is the beginning!" Amitie said with great confidence, mocking the earlier commencement speeches that had been given. Everyone laughed, and there was much joking and fake-gagging and punching of arms, but somehow, they all knew she was right. And that was both a wonderful thought, and an unnerving one.   
  
  
THE END! ( for now) 


End file.
